🏮 Tadaumi Gion Matsuri

忠海祇園祭

Takehara, Hiroshima (Uchibori Park) · Every year on 31 July

Summer festival

320 days to go
Rooms around Takehara, Hiroshima fill up while the festival is on.

The Tadanoumi Gion Festival is held every July in the Tadanoumi area of Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture, as the festival of Yasaka Shrine, which stands within the grounds of Tadanoumi Kaihatsu Hachiman Shrine. Praying for safe navigation, prosperous business, and good health, it has been cherished as a traditional festival dating back to the late Edo period. Its greatest feature is the way the mikoshi (portable shrine) is handled. Sixteen bearers violently tilt the 600 kg mikoshi from side to side and thrust it high into the air, performing rough and daring feats; this mikoshi ritual has been designated an intangible folk cultural property of Hiroshima Prefecture. On the day, after morning rituals, the mikoshi departs from Benzaiten Shrine and parades through the town. In the early afternoon a mock performance is held at Uchibori Park, and the festival closes at night with the mikoshi entering the shrine. The power of the forceful bearers and the atmosphere of a festival passed down since ancient times are the highlights.