🏮 Jugoya San Oozuna Hiki Matsuri

十五夜さん大綱引き祭り

Kurume, Fukuoka (Ise Amaterasu Mitama Shrine) · Every year in mid August

Summer festival

335 days to go
Rooms around Kurume, Fukuoka fill up while the festival is on.

At the grounds of Ise Amaterasu Mitama Shrine (commonly known as Oishi Shrine) in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, the Jugoya-san Otsunahiki is held every year on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. It is an autumn local festival wishing for a good harvest and freedom from illness, and is designated an intangible folk cultural property of Kurume. It takes place at the shrine, about 10 minutes on foot from JR Kurume Station, from 17:00 to around 21:00. The exact origin of the festival is unknown, but it is told that from around 400 years ago, in the early Edo period, shrine parishioners held a tug-of-war on the night of the full moon. There is a legend that in years when the tug-of-war was not held, an epidemic spread, and because the shape of the large rope represents a giant serpent, it is also said to be an event to pacify the Chikugo River. On the day, Shinto rituals and an opening ceremony take place from around 17:00, and from around 18:00 seven small ropes are carried around the neighborhood. Around 20:00, after traditional events such as the Oishi Kaka and Kushisashi Imo, the large tug-of-war unfolds from around 20:30. Viewing is free, and the event goes ahead in light rain.