🏮 Daisenji no Chikara Mochi

大山寺の力餅

Kamita, Tokushima (Daisenji Temple) · Every year in mid January

123 days to go
Rooms around Kamita, Tokushima fill up while the festival is on.

At Oyamadera Temple in Kamiita, Tokushima, the Oyamadera no Chikaramochi event is held every year on the third Sunday of January. In this contest of strength, men carry a large kagami mochi (ceremonial rice cake) weighing 136 kg on their shoulders, and women one weighing 69 kg, competing over how far they can walk; it is known as a spectacle that makes onlookers tense up as well. Its origin is said to date to the Sengoku period, when Shichijo Castle lord Dewa no Kami Kanenaka prayed to Oyama Kannon Bosatsu and, in thanks for being granted superhuman strength, carried a large kagami mochi up from the foot of the mountain and dedicated it. Later, after Oyamadera became a prayer site of the Awa domain lord Hachisuka, successive domain lords dedicated such mochi to pray for military fortune and long life, and at the first ceremony, retainers confident in their strength attempted the large kagami mochi. On the day, the sight of participants carrying the giant kagami mochi and competing in strength and endurance is the highlight. It is a powerful traditional event, passed down along with the history of Oyamadera, that can be experienced up close.

Getting there

45 minutes by car from Tokushima Awa Odori Airport, 20 minutes by car from JR Bando Station, 15 minutes by car from the Tokushima Bus Kajiyabara Line "Kajiyabara" bus stop. 20 minutes by car from Itano IC, 20 minutes by car from Donari IC.