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🏮 Seibo Osame no Konpira Daiyu Sai

歳暮納めの金比羅大湯祭

Saitama (Hikawa Shrine) · Every year on 10 December

Traditional performing arts

87 days to go
Rooms around Saitama fill up while the festival is on.

The Toshinagoshi no Konpira Oyu Matsuri is a traditional event held every December at Hikawa Shrine in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture. This festival is held as the year's final Konpira pilgrimage, and is a Shinto ritual in which participants enter a large bath (oyu, a large tub) set up within the shrine grounds to purify themselves of the year's defilement and pray for good health and freedom from illness. Its origins date back to the Edo period, and it developed as a unique festival blending Konpira faith with yudate kagura. The highlight is the yudate ceremony held at night, in which Shinto priests stir water heated over a fire; the mystical scene of steam and flames captivates worshippers. Visitors are also purified by touching the oyu and pray for the coming year's health. Amazake is also served at the venue, and the area bustles with local people.