🏮 Mizuabi Mikoshi

水浴び神輿

Marugame, Kagawa (田潮八幡神社) · Every year on 29 October

Mikoshi

45 days to go
Rooms around Marugame, Kagawa fill up while the festival is on.

At Tashio Hachiman Shrine in Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture, the highlight of the annual festival held on the third Saturday and Sunday of October every year is the "water-bathing mikoshi" (portable shrine). Carried by men in white robes, the mikoshi is plunged completely into the water of the Dokigawa River, a Class A river, and crosses while thrashing violently—a bold festival that fills both banks of the river with spectators. The origin of entering the water is said to date back to 1362, the first year of the Joji era in the Northern and Southern Courts period, when Hosokawa Yoriyuki prayed for victory in battle and the sea tide rose, flooding the fields and blocking the enemy's pursuit. From this story, the shrine was named Tashio Shrine. It also includes the meaning of ancient misogi (purification), and while it once prayed for a bountiful harvest of the five grains, it now also includes prayers for traffic safety and other things. On the day of the festival, after the Shinto ritual, the mikoshi departs led by children's floats and large and small drum stands, taking about two hours to reach the Dokigawa River. While immersed in water up to their chests, the mikoshi spins around in the water and is raised high, drawing applause and cheers from the spectators on both banks. With gratitude to their ancestors in their hearts, the men carry the water-bathing mikoshi powerfully, coloring the autumn Dokigawa River.