🏮 Ogi Matsuri

扇祭

Nachikatsuura, Wakayama (熊野那智大社) · Every year on 14 July

Summer festivalMikoshiTraditional performing arts

303 days to go
Rooms around Nachikatsuura, Wakayama fill up while the festival is on.

The Ougi Matsuri (Fan Festival) is the grand festival of Kumano Nachi Taisha in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, commonly known as "Nachi's Fire Festival." It is held every year on July 14, and in 2015 it was designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. It is the largest festival held at this shrine, the head shrine of the more than four thousand Kumano Shrines nationwide. The festival's origin dates back to when Emperor Jimmu, during his eastern expedition, enshrined the Nachi Falls as the spirit substitute of Onamuchi no Mikoto. Since ancient times, the fan has been called "hiougi" and has been revered as possessing spiritual power to summon deities and to bring grain fertility and protection from insect damage. The festival honors water and fire and has the character of an agricultural rite praying for the regeneration of life and a bountiful harvest of the five grains. During the day at Kumano Nachi Taisha, elementary school children perform Yamato Mai, and the Nachi Dengaku, designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, and the Otaue-shiki rice-planting ritual are held. In the afternoon Ougi Shinmoshi Togyo-sai procession, twelve Ougi Shinmoshi (fan portable shrines) about 6 meters tall, modeled on the Nachi Falls, make their way to Hiryu Shrine (Nachi Otaki). On the approach, a fire ritual called "Nachi's Fire Festival" is performed with twelve large taimatsu torches, a bold rite in which sparks purify the fan portable shrines.

Getting there

When the paid parking areas in the Nachi Mountain area become full, park at a temporary parking lot halfway up Mount Nachi (such as Daimonzaka Parking), then transfer by Kumano Gobo Nankai Bus shuttle bus (free). Regular buses run on their usual schedules, and taxis can drop passengers off near the "Nachi no Taki-mae" bus stop.