🏮 Sanno Sai

山王祭

Otsu, Shiga (Hiyoshi Grand Shrine) · Every year on 12 April

Mikoshi

210 days to go
Rooms around Otsu, Shiga fill up while the festival is on.

Sanno Festival is held at Hiyoshi Taisha in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, and is the annual festival of the shrine, the head shrine of over 3,800 Sanno shrines nationwide. It is designated as an intangible folk cultural property of Otsu City, and is a traditional rite praying for peace and good harvests, tracing the origins of the enshrinement of Onamuchi no Kami at the West Main Shrine and Oyamakui no Kami at the East Main Shrine. The highlight of the festival is the appearance of the mikoshi (portable shrines) of the seven Sanno shrines. The brave rituals performed amid fully blooming cherry blossoms have the power befitting one of the three great festivals of the lake country, bringing spring splendor and a solemn atmosphere to Hiyoshi Taisha and the Sakamoto area.

Getting there

20 minutes on foot or 5 minutes by bus from Hiei-zan Sakamoto Station on the JR Kosei Line; 10 minutes on foot from Sakamoto Hiei-zanguchi Station on the Keihan Ishiyama-Sakamoto Line. By car, about 10 minutes from the Meishin Kyoto Higashi IC or the Nishi-Otsu Bypass Shimosakamoto IC.