🏮 Horan En Ya

ホーランエンヤ

Bungotakada, Oita (Katsura River (Tamatsuiso-cho to Wakamiya Hachiman Shrine)) · Every New Year (dates set according to high tide times)

Horan Enya is a traditional event held every New Year on the Katsura River in Bungotakada, Oita Prefecture, to pray for good catches and safe voyages. It is designated as an intangible folk cultural property of Oita Prefecture and selected as an Oita Heritage site. The festival began in the mid-Edo period, when Bungotakada was part of the Shimabara domain; it was a rite wishing for the safety of the cargo ships that carried annual tribute rice from Bungotakada to the storehouses in Osaka, and for good catches. The name Horan Enya is said to be a corruption of the calls "Horai Ei Ya" or "Horai e, Horai e." A treasure ship departs from Tsuma Iso-machi, brightly decorated with big-catch flags, streamers, and international flags, and boarded by young men in loincloths. After offering rice cakes at Kotohira Shrine (Konpira Shrine) downstream, they row upstream toward Wakamiya Hachiman Shrine, riding the incoming tide with the shout "Horan Enya Enya Sano Sassa." Red and white rice cakes are scattered from the boat, and the young men dive into the freezing river to receive congratulatory gifts offered by spectators on the riverbank, a stirring sight to see.

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