# Paantu

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{{Short description|Japanese annual festival}}
[[File:Miyako paantou.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Exhibition of Paantu at Miyakojima City Museum, [Miyakojima](/source/Miyakojima), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan]]
The '''Paantu''' ([Miyako](/source/Miyakoan_language): {{lang|mvi|パーントゥ}}) festival is an annual festival on the island of [Miyako-jima](/source/Miyako-jima) in [Japan](/source/Japan)'s [Okinawa Prefecture](/source/Okinawa_Prefecture).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.okinawastory.jp/en/island_guide/miyako/ |title=Be.Okinawa |publisher=Okinawastory.jp |date=2014-05-23 |accessdate=2014-06-23 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101081109/http://www.okinawastory.jp/en/island_guide/miyako/ |archivedate=2014-01-01 }}</ref>

Every year during the ninth month of the [lunisolar calendar](/source/lunisolar_calendar), male villagers will dress up as paantu, [supernatural being](/source/supernatural_being)s meant to spread good luck and scare away evil spirits. The common feature is a wooden mask with a large forehead, small eyes, and a thin mouth, and the spreading of sacred mud onto newly built houses or onto newborn children's faces. In some villages, the Paantu are accompanied by traditional animist noro priestesses.<ref>{{Citation  | last1 = Onishi  | first1 = Norimitsu  | title = Warding Off Evil Spirits, But Not Toll of Affluence  | newspaper = The New York Times  | date = 2008-02-13 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/world/asia/13miyako.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin}}</ref>

In other villages, the Paantu will chase after small children, making them cry, or chase after people who are avoiding having their faces smeared with the sacred mud.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oki-islandguide.com/things_to_do/paantu |title=Paantu |publisher=Oki-islandguide.com |accessdate=2014-06-23 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20140623192010/http://www.oki-islandguide.com/things_to_do/paantu |archivedate=2014-06-23 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Category:Festivals in Okinawa Prefecture
Category:Japanese deities
Category:Miyako culture

{{Japan-reli-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Paantu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paantu) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paantu?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.