🏮 Shoreisai

松例祭

Haguro, Yamagata (Dewa Sanzan Shrine) · Every year on 31 December

Summer festival

108 days to go
Rooms around Haguro, Yamagata fill up while the festival is on.

Matsureisai is a New Year's rite at Dewa Sanzan Shrine in Haguro, Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, held annually from December 31 to January 1, with a history of over 1,400 years. Various rituals are performed throughout the night on New Year's Eve, and it is known as a bold fire festival welcoming the new year. The climax of the festival is the Onitaimatsu-hiki, a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. It originates from the legend that Hachiko no Oji, the founder of Dewa Sanzan Shrine, burned a giant pine torch likened to an evil spirit (tsutsugamushi) and cured an epidemic, and the sight of local young men pulling the giant torch is still passed down today. A feature is that the outcome of the young men pulling the giant torch and the way it burns are used to divine the next year's good harvest and good fishing. As the festival reaches its climax, the blazing flames and shouts fill the shrine grounds, spreading a scene full of heat welcoming the new year.

Getting there

From JR Tsuruoka Station, take a bus bound for Haguro Sancho for 50 minutes; from Shonai-Asahi IC on the Yamagata Expressway, drive 40 minutes. Parking available (410 standard vehicles, 20 large vehicles).