Embodied semiotics of risk and protection: Ritual silence, onomatopoeia, and role switching in the Kannarekō lightning rite of northern Kagoshima

This paper analyzes the Kannarekō (雷講, “lightning rite”) of northern Kagoshima, a minimal speech ritual built from silence, ideophonic vocalization, and indexical role assignment rather than propositional language. A rotating thunder‐caller vocalizes goro‐goro‐goro / pikka / dōn as two gohei circulate the circle in opposite directions; at dōn , both holders drink sake , but only the fire‐ gohei holder becomes the next thunder‐caller. I propose ideophonic enactment as a third, performative mode of ideophones, in which sound‐iconic form constitutes rather than depicts its referent, and argue that this minimal speech structure confers transmission resilience amid demographic contraction.