🏮 Kohata no Hata Matsuri

木幡の幡祭り

Nihonmatsu, Fukushima (隠津島神社) · Every year on the 1st Sunday of December

Snow festival

83 days to go
Rooms around Nihonmatsu, Fukushima fill up while the festival is on.

Kohata no Hata Matsuri is held every year on the first Sunday of December in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, at Kabitsushima Shrine. It is a traditional event known as one of Japan's three great banner festivals, named for the procession of colorful banners, and was designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 2004. The festival is said to date back to the Former Nine Years' War in 1055. When the defeated Minamoto forces barricaded themselves on Mount Kohata with only a few riders, snow fell overnight and whitened the mountain. The pursuing Abe forces mistook it for the Minamoto white banners and retreated without fighting. The highlight of the day is the banner procession, led by a white banner and followed by many others. On the day before and the day of the festival, the ancient rites of Hayama-gomori and Mizu-gori are performed, preserving old-style ceremonies.

Getting there

The festival venue is around Kabitsushima Shrine. From Nihonmatsu Station on the JR Tohoku Main Line, take a Fukushima Kotsu bus bound for Towa and get off at Kohata, then walk about 5 minutes.