🏮 Ae no Koto

あえのこと

Suzu, Ishikawa (Individual Homes and Fields) · Every year on 5 December

82 days to go
Rooms around Suzu, Ishikawa fill up while the festival is on.

Aenokoto, passed down since ancient times in Suzu City, Wajima City, Noto Town, and Anamizu Town in the Okunoto region of Ishikawa Prefecture, is a harvest festival. "Aenokoto" means "ae = feast" and "koto = festival," and it is a traditional event in which local people welcome the god of the rice field into their homes, entertain the deity, and send it off again while praying for a good harvest. Designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1977 as "Aenokoto of Okunoto," it was registered as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009. It is a festival closely tied to farming in the satoyama of Noto and has been handed down over a long period. The main content is a series of rituals: welcoming the god of the rice field, entertaining it, and sending it off. It continues as an event that conveys the agricultural culture of Noto, performed by local residents with gratitude and prayers for a good harvest.