Wandering miko

Wandering Miko Aruki Miko (歩き巫女) are a historical variety of miko, or Shinto priestesses, from Japan. Wandering miko are characterised by their lack of allegiance to any particular shrine or temple, instead performing their religious duties in various locations over time.

Gehōbako were a common tool among wandering miko.

Overview

While not belonging to specific Shinto shrines, wandering Miko made their living by traveling around the country praying, ordaining, and advocating. Similarly, some wandering miko also worked as itinerant poets and prostitutes. For this reason, they could also be called shirayumoji (白湯文字, an ordinary woman who secretly engages in sex work), or tabi-jo-rо̄ (旅女郎, a prostitute who travels alone on foot to meet various clients). Other terms included azusa miko (a priestess who performed rites by playing a bowstring) or kumano higauni (a priestess who spread the Kumano faith throughout Japan).

Other varieties of wandering miko including the waka (若, priestesses who served "offshoot" shrines known as wakamiya), agata (miko who traveled rural areas), shirayama-miko (a miko of the shirayama faith), and moriko (the wife of a yamabushi) are all said to have carried their gods with them and traveled from place to place to perform rituals such as the kamado harahi and to act as mediums.

Shinano miko

Shinano miko were wandering miko who left present-day Tōmi City, Nagano Prefecture and wandered throughout Japan performing their duties. There have been claims that Mochizuki Chiyome trained such miko during the Sengoku period to be used for gathering information for the Takeda clan of Kai Province.