🏮 Ogaki Matsuri

大垣祭

Ogaki, Gifu (Ogaki City Center) · Every year on the Saturday and Sunday closest to 15 May

UNESCO Intangible Cultural HeritageImportant Intangible Folk Cultural PropertyFloatsMikoshiTraditional performing artsFood stalls

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Ogaki Matsuri (the Ogaki Festival) is the annual festival of Ogaki Hachiman Shrine, held in the city center of Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture, on the Saturday and Sunday closest to May 15 each year. In the festival, 13 yama (floats) parade through the former Ogaki city area. It is designated a nationally important intangible folk cultural property and is registered as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage as part of the "Yama, Hoko, Yatai events." The festival's origins date back to 1648, when Todo Ujikane, lord of the Ogaki domain, rebuilt Hachiman Shrine and 10 castle-town districts built floats and pulled them out. In 1679, the domain lord Todo Ujinishi granted three floats: the Kagura float, the Daikoku float, and the Ebisu float. Many were lost in the Nobi earthquake and the Ogaki air raids, but today 13 floats have been restored or revived. The main events are the "Shigaku" on Saturday and the "Hongaku" on Sunday. At Shigaku, after a dedication performance in front of Hachiman Shrine, floats perform kakegaku in front of City Hall. At Hongaku, the floats parade along a course of about 8.8 km, led by the Kagura float. On both nights there is a "Yomiya" in which lanterns are lit along the Suimon River, and on the night of Hongaku a mikoshi (portable shrine) procession is also held. Each float has its own inherited arts, such as doll kagura and karakuri (mechanical puppetry) based on yokyoku (Noh chants).