noun
traditional fruit-tree beating ceremony
A folk ritual performed during Koshōgatsu (Little New Year). One person beats a fruit tree, typically a persimmon, with a pole and threatens to cut it down if it doesn't bear fruit, while another person promises on behalf of the tree that it will produce a good harvest.
小正月には、生り木責めという行事が行われる地域があります。
In some regions, a ceremony called narikizeme is held during Little New Year.
生り木責めでは、柿の木を棒で叩きながら「実がならなければ切るぞ」と言います。
In narikizeme, they hit a persimmon tree with a pole and say, 'If you don't bear fruit, we'll cut you down.'
The term combines 生り (nari, 'bearing fruit') or 成り (nari, 'becoming'), 木 (ki, 'tree'), and 責め (seme, 'torture' or 'blame'), literally 'fruit-tree torture'. The exact historical origin is uncertain, but it is a traditional folk practice meant to encourage a good harvest.