Every year, on June 30th, many shrines in Japan celebrate the Nagoshi no Ōharae (written in Japanese 夏越の大祓), one of the most significant rituals in the Shinto calendar.

It is a moment of transition: the year reaches its midpoint, the hot season begins with greater intensity, and people are invited to pause, look within, and let go of what has accumulated in the previous months.

In Japan, this gesture takes the form of a collective purification ritual. Impurities, fatigue, heavy thoughts, and minor daily disharmonies are symbolically eliminated to welcome the second half of the year with a clearer mind and a lighter body.

What is Nagoshi no Ōharae

The term Ōharae means "great purification." It is a ritual performed twice a year: at the end of June, with the Nagoshi no Ōharae, and at the end of December, with the Toshikoshi no Ōharae, the purification preceding the new year.

The June ritual is linked to the idea of symbolically crossing the threshold into summer. After the first six months of the year, an act of inner and outer cleansing is performed, entrusting to the ritual whatever one wishes to release: tensions, mistakes, fatigue, impurities of body and spirit.

In Japanese sensibility, purification does not only have a religious meaning. It is also a way to re-establish harmony between person, nature, and time. Body and mind are not separate: what burdens one can reflect on the other, and every act of care becomes a return to balance.

The meaning of kegare: what accumulates

To understand Nagoshi no Ōharae, it is important to approach the concept of kegare, often translated as "impurity."

In Shinto thought, kegare does not necessarily indicate moral fault. Rather, it is something that accumulates through living: fatigue, imbalances, difficult events, invisible tensions, distractions that distance one from their clearest state.

The ritual serves precisely this purpose: to lighten. To restore a person to a clearer, more receptive state, closer to their original nature.

For this reason, Nagoshi no Ōharae is not just an observance, but an invitation to create space.

Passing through the chinowa

One of the most recognizable gestures of the Nagoshi no Ōharae is the chinowa kuguri, the passing through a large circle woven with chigaya grass, a wild plant traditional in Japan.

The chinowa is placed in front of the shrine, and visitors pass through it following a ritual movement, often in a figure-eight shape. The gesture represents crossing a threshold: one enters with what has accumulated and leaves with the intention of renewal.

It is a simple and powerful ritual. Walking, crossing, returning to the center. The body performs a visible movement, while the mind accompanies a more subtle change.

According to tradition, the chinowa is also linked to the wish for protection and good health for the following months, especially in the transition to summer, an intense season for the body, energy, and skin.

A chinowa being prepared in front of a Shinto shrine

Hitogata: entrusting to paper what you want to let go of

Another element of the ritual is the use of hitogata or katashiro: small human-shaped paper figures.

The person writes their name, lightly breathes on the paper or passes it over their body, symbolically entrusting to the figure what they wish to purify. The hitogata are then handed over to the shrine, where they will be purified according to the ritual.

It is a delicate, almost silent gesture. The paper becomes a medium: it receives what one does not wish to retain and allows one to consciously separate from it.

Even in this detail, one finds one of the deepest qualities of Japanese culture: making the invisible visible through an essential gesture.

The minazuki sweet: eating summer with gratitude

Particularly in Kyoto, on June 30th, it is traditional to eat minazuki, a triangular rice sweet topped with azuki beans.

Its shape recalls ice, which was precious in the past during the hot months. Azuki beans, on the other hand, are traditionally associated with protection and warding off negativity.

The minazuki thus brings the same meaning as the ritual into daily life: to go through summer with balance, protection, and gratitude.

As often happens in Japanese culture, spirituality does not remain separate from everyday life. It enters into gestures, food, seasonality, and the way one takes care of oneself.

A threshold festival

Nagoshi no Ōharae is a threshold festival. It celebrates neither an absolute beginning nor a definitive end, but an intermediate point, a moment often overlooked: the midway point.

Pausing halfway through the year means acknowledging what has been experienced, thanking the body for what it has endured, observing the skin, breath, the quality of one's rest, and the presence with which one faces each day.

In the contemporary rhythm, this observance retains a very relevant message. There is no need to wait for the new year to start fresh: every midpoint, every transition, every change of season can become an opportunity to rebalance oneself.

From Japanese ritual to daily care

In the warew world, purification is also a daily gesture of beauty.

The Japanese skincare ritual begins with cleansing: gently removing what the skin has encountered during the day. It continues with a rebalancing gesture: restoring comfort and harmony to the skin's hydrolipidic film through emulsion. It concludes with hydration: supporting the skin's natural barrier function with the cream best suited to the season and its needs.

Just as Nagoshi no Ōharae invites us to let go of what has accumulated in the first six months of the year, skincare can become a small personal purification ritual, a way to remove impurities, release tension, bring attention back to the face and body, and reconnect with oneself.

In summer, the skin encounters sweat, UV rays, heat, humidity, air conditioning, and temperature fluctuations. Cleansing thoroughly yet gently, rebalancing, and hydrating then becomes an act of presence, a form of listening.

Welcoming the second half of the year

Nagoshi no Ōharae reminds us that beauty also arises from the ability to lighten up.

Letting go means creating space, giving breath back to the mind, softness to the body, light to the skin.

Mid-year, when summer opens its brightest season, we can choose to transform a daily gesture into a small ritual: cleansing, breathing, applying products slowly, feeling the warmth of our hands on our face.

A simple way to welcome the second half of the year with more clarity, balance, and gratitude.

With dignity and soft elegance - Rin to shite, shinayaka ni.