Paantu

Exhibition of Paantu at Miyakojima City Museum, Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

The Paantu Festival (パ ー ン ト ゥ) is an annual festival on Miyako Island in Okinawa prefecture of Japan.

Every year, during the ninth month of the lunisolar calendar, villagers will dress like paantu, supernatural beings destined to spread good luck and drive away evil spirits. The common feature is a wooden mask with a large front, small eyes and a slender mouth, and the diffusion of sacred mud in newly built houses or on the faces of newborns. In some villages, the Paantu are accompanied by traditional animist priestesses.

In other villages, the Paantu will chase small children, making them cry or chase people who are avoiding having their faces stained with sacred mud.

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