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🏮 Osumi Yagoro Don Matsuri

大隅弥五郎どん祭り

Soo, Kagoshima (Iwakawa Hachiman Shrine) · Every year on 3 November

Floats

50 days to go
Rooms around Soo, Kagoshima fill up while the festival is on.

Every year on November 3, the Yagoro-don Festival is held at Iwagawa Hachiman Shrine in Osaki Town, Kagoshima Prefecture. Its highlight is a 4-meter-85-centimeter-tall giant called Yagoro-don, made of bamboo basketwork, who parades through the streets wearing a plum-dyed kimono and carrying a long sword and halberd over 4 meters in length. It is one of the three major festivals of the prefecture, along with the Ohara Festival and the Shaka Festival. The origin dates back to the Asuka period, when it was a ceremony to release living creatures (hojo-e) to console the war dead from battles between the Hayato people and the imperial forces; there are various theories about the origin of Yagoro-don. The Yagoro-don of Iwagawa Hachiman Shrine is said to be the second son of three brothers, with the eldest enshrined at Nono Shrine in Miyakonojo City and the youngest at Tanoe Hachiman Shrine in Nichinan City. On the day, the event begins at 1:00 a.m. with the cry 'Yagoro-don is waking up!' and departs the shrine at 1:00 p.m. The sight of him passing through the large torii gate and the roughly 5-kilometer parade through the town are held, and his 'Inaba-away' pose as he passes under the Iwagawa Overpass is a famous feature. Together with a martial arts dedication tournament and other events, the town bustles with activity.

Getting there

Held at Iwagawa Hachiman Shrine in Osaki Town, Kagoshima Prefecture. To reach the venue, it is about a 15-minute walk from Iwagawa Station on the JR Osaki Line. By car, it is about 5 minutes from the Soo-Yagoro Interchange on the Higashikyushu Expressway.