🏮 Takada Otawara Hiki

高田大俵引き

Aizumisato, Fukushima (Heisei Street) · Every year on the 2nd Saturday of January

117 days to go
Rooms around Aizumisato, Fukushima fill up while the festival is on.

The Takada Otawara Hiki, held every year on the second Saturday of January on Heisei-dori in Aizumisato, Fukushima Prefecture, is a naked festival in which men wearing only a loincloth divide into red and white teams and pull against each other on a large rope around a giant straw bale. The red team, made up of people from commerce and industry, and the white team, made up of people from agriculture, compete in a best-of-three contest, each praying for business prosperity and a bountiful harvest, respectively. With a 400-year tradition, this festival brings heat to the Aizu winter as a serious contest at the very start of the year. The main event is the powerful sight of a giant straw bale 3 meters in diameter, 5 meters tall, and weighing 3 tons being pulled back and forth at the Heisei-dori intersection, and general spectators can also participate as pullers. After the tug-of-war, lucky small straw bales are scattered in prayer for good health, concluding the event with wishes for a healthy year.

Getting there

20 minutes on foot from JR Aizu-Takada Station. 12 km, 30 minutes from the Ban-etsu Expressway Aizu-Wakamatsu IC via National Route 401. Parking available (100 spaces, free).