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A tour of Chita's traditional festivals and lucky spots
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Chita's festivals are colorful throughout the four seasons. Come and enjoy the gorgeous floats, lively festival music, beautiful lion dances, and other festivals that have been carefully cultivated by the local people, as they pass on their traditional culture, history, and skills. *Event status ma...
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Table of Contents
- January 1st Owari Manzai New Year Dedication Performance
- Second Monday of January: Good Luck Dainichi Daruma Festival
- February 3rd: Setsubun bean-throwing ceremony
- Kitakasuya Spring Festival held every second Sunday of April
- The Sunday closest to April 16th Okada Spring Festival
- Second Sunday of April: Hinaga Omanto Festival
- Fourth Saturday of July Hakusan Shrine Festival
- First Sunday of October: Asakura Ladder Lion Festival
January 1st Owari Manzai New Year Dedication Performance
The first laugh of the New Year at the birthplace of Owari Manzai
Owari Manzai, which was originally performed as a way to earn money during the farming off-season, is known as a traditional celebration art that is said to be the origin of Kamigata Manzai, and in 1996 it was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property by the government. Every year, at the start of the new year, Owari Hachiman Shrine holds a New Year's dedication performance of Owari Manzai, which was born here in Hachiman (Teramoto). Kadozuke Manzai, Sankyoku Manzai, and Goten Manzai are dedicated to celebrate the New Year, as well as pray for safety and prosperity in the home, and to bring laughter and good fortune.
Second Monday of January: Good Luck Dainichi Daruma Festival
Putting last year's gratitude and this year's happiness into a Daruma doll
Daikoji Temple, affectionately known as the "Daruma Temple," holds a "Daruma Festival" every year on Coming of Age Day. People paint the right eye onto a new daruma doll and pray for the safety of their families, good health, longevity, and success in their chosen school for the year. A year later, the left eye is painted onto the doll to express gratitude, and the doll is then burned as a memorial service. The sight of the mountains of daruma dolls gathered on the temple grounds being burned all at once and memorialized will surely help people express their gratitude to the daruma dolls that have watched over them until now, and will inspire new feelings.
Daruma dolls have the power to get back up even after falling down. Why not put your dreams and wishes into a Daruma doll and pray for them?
Daikoji Temple
Commonly known as "Daruma Temple," it is known for the "Daruma Festival" held on Coming of Age Day, where worshippers can make wishes to the various "Dainichi Fuku Daruma" dolls of various sizes.
February 3rd: Setsubun bean-throwing ceremony
Participate in bean-throwing in colorful Setsubun costumes
The bean-throwing ceremony at Daichi-in Temple, famous for "Megane Kobo," is an unusual style in which worshippers throw the beans themselves. Women wear uchikake and men wear jinbaori, and each worshipper throws beans at the main hall while holding a lucky box with auspicious words such as "happiness" or "longevity" written on it (participants join in the order of reception from 8:00 a.m./advance tickets are also sold). This festival, which attracts several thousand people every year, is very lively, with many outdoor stalls lined up in the temple grounds. Paper decorations of the zodiac animals and lucky beans of Ebisu and Daikoku are also popular.
Daichiin Temple (Kobo with Glasses)
Long ago, a blind worshipper prayed to Shindai Daishi and his eyes were healed, but Daishi's eyes were damaged in return. Since then, he has been wearing the glasses left by the worshipper.
Kitakasuya Spring Festival held every second Sunday of April
A float decorated with glittering mother-of-pearl decorations is pulled around
This festival is said to have begun to celebrate the arrival of spring, pray for a good harvest, and quell epidemics. The main attraction of the festival is the "Kao float" (city designated cultural property), made entirely of mother-of-pearl, which is rare nationwide. This float was built by Kamezaki Nishigumi during the Bunka era, and after it was purchased by Kitakasuya in 1927, it was paraded until 1958, when the festival was canceled when the Youth Association was dissolved. The spring festival was revived in 1998, and now it is paraded through the town.
On the day of the festival, the floats parade through the area, and at night, the floats are decorated with lanterns, creating a fantastical sight.
The Sunday closest to April 16th Okada Spring Festival
The spectacular "twisting screwdriver" is a must-see
The Okada Spring Festival, one of Chita's three major spring festivals, is a festival of floats held in the old streets of Okada. The festival features three floats designated as cultural properties of Chita City: the Sun Float, the Rain Float, and the Wind Float. The highlight is the "Twisting Float" where the men vigorously turn the floats around.
The dancing of the mechanical puppets performed on top of the floats is also magnificent, and the spectacular transformation of the "Nichiguruma" mechanical puppet in particular elicits thunderous applause from the audience.
On the day before, there will be a lantern procession by children and a drumming event.
Second Sunday of April: Hinaga Omanto Festival
A gorgeously decorated horse and its handlers parade to the accompaniment of musical accompaniment.
Omanto is a festival held in the Chita region to pray for bountiful harvests and rain. Horses decorated with helmets and nose guards are dedicated to the shrine, and they are pulled by colorfully dressed horses, tall lanterns, and music are also added, making it a very colorful and lively festival (designated as an intangible folk cultural property by the city).
The Hinaga Omanto Festival consists of the "journey" to the shrine, the "purification" that the pullers receive in front of the shrine's altar, and the "horse offering" that takes place on the street below the shrine's stone steps. The pullers of the horses are middle-aged local men who are in an unlucky age.
Fourth Saturday of July Hakusan Shrine Festival
Chita's only float decorated with straw lanterns appears
The festival floats displayed at Hakusan Shrine are finished entirely in lacquer and gold leaf, and are said to be the only ones left here on the Chita Peninsula. Similar to the decorations on the Sharaku boats at the Tsushima Tenno Festival, the floats are decorated with many lanterns in a semicircle on the straw wrapper, and it is said that the Hakusan Shrine floats are the only ones still in existence. Although they cannot be pulled, the lanterns are lit up at night, and you can see their beautiful sight against the backdrop of the night sky.
First Sunday of October: Asakura Ladder Lion Festival
Be thrilled by the lion's free-spirited dancing skills at high altitudes!
It is said that this festival was started as a memorial for the boar and to pray for a good harvest after a lion (boar) that was tormenting the people of Asakura was killed with a ladder, which resulted in a bumper harvest the following year.
A duo consisting of a lion's head (kabu) and torso (usu) climbs a ladder and performs a stunt on a 9-meter-tall tower constructed of log pillars. For about 30 minutes, the pair dances lightly on top of the tower to the acrobatic music.
The main festival involves the dedication of many lion dances, but a rehearsal is held at night the day before, allowing you to enjoy the fantastical dancing under the illuminated lights. It is a prefecture-designated intangible folk cultural asset.
Written by
Saburi is fragrant with plum blossoms, Okada is steeped in 400 years of history, and Shinmaiko is a mecca for marine leisure. Take a leisurely stroll through Chita City, which is rich in nature and has peaceful scenery. We hope you have a wonderful trip and discover the charms of Chita City.
The contents on this page may partially contain automatic translation.
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