🏮 Shirongo Matsuri

しろんご祭り

Toba, Mie (Shirongo Beach) · Every year on the Saturday nearest 11 July

Summer festivalTraditional performing arts

The Shirobongo Festival is held on Sugashima in Toba, Mie Prefecture, at Shirobongo Beach on the Saturday closest to July 11 each year, and is a traditional event of the ama (female divers). In the past it was called "Shironogo-san" as a ritual of the dragon deity "Shiro no Miya," and it is now enshrined together at Sugashima Shrine. A pair of abalone is offered at Shirahige Shrine (an affiliated shrine of Sugashima Shrine), and prayers are made for safety at sea and a good catch throughout the year. The sea in front of Shirobongo Beach, which is a no-take zone throughout the year, is opened only on the day of the festival, and at the signal of a conch shell, ama in white isogi dive all at once and compete to be the first to catch abalone. The ama who catches the first male-female pair of abalone (maneki awabi) becomes that year's ama head and offers it at Shirahige Shrine. Offshore, a fleet of fishing boats displaying colorful tairyo flags parades, and on the beach there are direct sales of abalone and turban shells, as well as servings of the local specialty turban shell rice and seafood hot pot, and the area is bustling with tourists from on and off the island.

Getting there

From Toba Marine Terminal (Sadahama), take the Toba Municipal Regular Ferry to Sugashima, disembark, and walk about 20 minutes along the promenade to Shirobongo Beach.