During the early Heian period, this ceremony originated in the Imperial Palace and spread to lords and ordinary people as a wish to be in full harvest and a perfect state of health by praying in various directions no matter what the year might bring, but as time went by the ceremony remained simply as a court function.
平安時代初期、宮中を始源とし、これに倣って貴族や庶民の間でも行われ、四方を拝して一年間の豊作と無病息災を祈っていたが、時代を経るごとに宮中行事として残るのみとなった。