🏮 Kemari

蹴鞠

Sakurai, Nara (Tanzan Shrine) · Every year on 3 November

Traditional performing arts

50 days to go
Rooms around Sakurai, Nara fill up while the festival is on.

At Tanzan Shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, the Kemari Festival is held every year on April 29 and November 3. Started in 1926, this festival recreates kemari, a game played by nobles in the Heian period about 1,400 years ago. Kemari, introduced from China, is a game in which players pass a leather ball to one another without letting it touch the ground, and it was also the occasion for the meeting between Fujiwara no Kamatari and the prince. Tanzan Shrine is dedicated to Fujiwara no Kamatari, who laid the foundation of Japanese politics. The highlight of the festival is the elegant movements performed by the players in the kemari garden. Dressed in Heian-period noble costumes, they position themselves using bamboo placed at the four corners as guides and form a circle. Pots are buried in the ground of the garden, and the sound of the ball echoes. After the performers' demonstration, general participants can also try kemari. A distinctive feature is that, rather than winning or losing, consideration in making passes that are easy for the other person to receive is valued.

Getting there

Nearest station: JR/Kintetsu Sakurai Station. From the south exit of Sakurai Station, take the bus bound for Tanzan Shrine and get off at the final stop, Tanzan Shrine; then walk 5 minutes.