🏮 Chanchiki Yama Matsuri

チャンチキ山祭

Nanao, Ishikawa (Keta Hongu (Noto Ikukunitamahiko Shrine)) · Every year on 12 April

MikoshiTraditional performing artsFloats

210 days to go
Rooms around Nanao, Ishikawa fill up while the festival is on.

The Chonko Yama Festival, also known as the Chanki Yama Festival, is held in the Ofuchi district of Nanao City, Ishikawa Prefecture, as the spring festival of Keta Hongu (Noto Ikukunitama Hiko Shrine). It originated as a festival in the third month of the old lunar calendar and is now held on the second Sunday of April. It is a festival in which small yamaboko (festival floats) from the six towns of the Ofuchi district parade through the towns. The name "Chonko Yama" comes from the Nanao dialect words "chinkoi" and "chonkoi," meaning "small," in contrast to the "Dekayama" of the Aohaku Festival held a month later. It is also called "Chanki Yama" after the "Shagiri" festival music played on shamisen, gongs, drums, and flutes. As recorded in the shrine's origin story of 1731 (Kyoho 16) as the "Third Month Festival," it has a long tradition. On the preceding Saturday, at the "Ningyo Mi," dolls and other items to be placed on the floats are displayed at doll lodgings. On the day of the festival, decorations are put up from the morning, and the floats gather in front of the courthouse in Umaidashi Town in the early afternoon. After welcoming the procession of the mikoshi (portable shrine) from Keta Hongu, the yamaboko of the six towns parade through the Ofuchi district, taking turns at the front, and in the evening they all assemble at the temporary shrine in Mishima Town. The festival ends with a purification ceremony.