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.
In some regions, a ceremony called narikizeme is held during Little New Year.
In narikizeme, they hit a persimmon tree with a pole and say, 'If you don't bear fruit, we'll cut you down.'
Koshōgatsu is the festival period during which narikizeme is performed; narikizeme is one specific ritual within it.
Iwai-bō is a decorated pole used in some Koshōgatsu rituals, possibly related to the pole used in narikizeme.
Standard kanji spelling for this traditional ceremony.
Alternate kanji spelling using 成 instead of 生.
Variant spelling without okurigana.
Irregular okurigana usage; less common.
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.