🏮 Esashi Kamomejima Matsuri

江差かもめ島祭り

Esashi, Hokkaido · Every year on the 1st Saturday of July and the following day

Summer festivalMikoshiTraditional performing arts

292 days to go
Rooms around Esashi, Hokkaido fill up while the festival is on.

The Esashi Kamome Island Festival is held on the first Saturday of July and the following day each year on and around Kamome Island in Esashi Town, Hokkaido. The core of the festival is the Shinto rituals centered on Itsukushima Shrine, which sits on Kamome Island adjacent to Esashi Port, and the Heishi Rock on the island's front beach. The festival's origins trace back to the legend of Orii (Orin) handed down at Ubagami Daijingu in Esashi Town. It was once part of the "Ubagami Bentengu Festival" with Benten Shrine (now Itsukushima Shrine) as a subsidiary shrine, but in 1862 (Bunkyu 2) the festival was separated and became independent. The float procession was transferred to the Ubagami Daijingu side, and in the present Kamome Island Festival the Shinto rituals of Itsukushima Shrine play the central role. The highlight is the two-day grand festival of Itsukushima Shrine. On the first day, the shimenawa rope decoration of Heishi Rock and the dedication of Esashi Kagura are held, and on the second day, a solemn ritual is performed in which a mikoshi (portable shrine) is placed on a gozabune boat and carried around the waters surrounding Kamome Island. In addition, there are plenty of events to enjoy alongside the rituals, such as the Kitamaebune boat race, the Esashi Ondo thousand-person parade, the Esashi Same Odori, the opening of Kamome Island Lighthouse to the public, and a robata grill corner.