Kami-na-zuki

   or Kanna-zuki. The 'month without kami', from October 11 when all the kami (except those who are deaf and do not hear the summons, such as Ebisu) having completed their work protecting the harvest are seen off from their shrines and make a tour to Izumo. In Izumo, this period is consequently known as kami-arizuki or 'the month of kami'. The period may correspond to the month known as saigetsu, the precarious month of abstinence before the harvest was secured when according to the Engi-shiki burial and reburial and other practices were tabooed and the Taoist custom of worshipping the North star as the Heavenly Emperor was prohibited.