🏮 Heikoku Sai

平国祭

Hakui, Ishikawa (Keta Shrine) · Every year on 18 March

Hirakuni Matsuri (Oide Matsuri), hosted by Keta Taisha Shrine in Hakui, Ishikawa Prefecture, is a large-scale shinko-sai (procession of a deity) held every year from March 18 to 23. Starting from Hakui, it travels through two cities and three towns in Noto — Nanao, Shika, Hodatsushimizu, and Nakanoto — and is well known as an event that announces the arrival of spring plowing in the Noto region. The festival is linked to the legend that the enshrined deity, Okuninushi no Mikoto, pacified the land of Noto, and it has a long history, with a saying preserved: "Even the cold lasts until Keta's Oide." Led by a sacred horse, a brave procession of more than 50 people travels a total route of about 300 kilometers over five nights and six days, and this is the main sight that signals the coming of spring to the area.

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