Akiba Festival performances

Festival highlights

A highlight is the procession led by a sakibara face mask, followed by banners, daigasa and tachigasa hats, musicians, willow branches, torimono, dancers, an atobara face mask, comic characters, and others.

Along the route, scenes of torimono being tossed back and forth can be seen, along with Saiharai stick dances and sword dances.

The comic character “aburaya” (oil seller), played by each group, adds lively theatrical touches to the procession and is another defining feature of this festival performance.

The Akiba Festival: A procession accompanying the mikoshi, enlivened by torimono and dance

What to expect

During the festival, a procession led by a face mask called sakibara advances with banners, hats, music, torimono, dancers, and other participants, accompanying the mikoshi on its departure and return.

Along the route, participants perform gestures that involve tossing torimono back and forth, as well as stick dances and sword dances.

Each of the three hamlet procession groups adds a comic character, giving the procession its own distinctive flair.

How to take part

The nerigumi groups that perform the arts are made up of people from the 3 villages of Sawatari, Betsue, and Kirinokubo, all ujiko of Akiba Shrine.

In the procession, each group also has roles such as the comic character known as the “oil seller.”

Location and access

Venue and address

Akiba Shrine (Niyodogawa Town).

Source: 国選択 記録選択（記録作成等の措置を講ずべき文化財） －高知県教育委員会文化財課－

Event venue 高知県仁淀川町 秋葉神社

This map uses the venue name. Check the official guide for the event area and entrances.

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Dates and season

The festival performances take place from the 16th to the 18th day of the 1st month of the lunar calendar.

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Origins and History of Akiba Festival performances

The Akiba Festival performances have been passed down as part of the procession accompanying the Akiba Shrine festival.

November 11, 1971, it was selected as an “Intangible Folk Cultural Property for Which Measures Such as Record Creation Should Be Undertaken” in Kochi Prefecture.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes these as festival procession performances with particularly distinctive local characteristics.

Official information

The Agency for Cultural Affairs’ national database of designated cultural properties provides information on the name and details of the Akiba Festival performances, as well as the preservation group.

The preservation group is the Akiba Shrine Festival Procession Preservation Association.

Akiba Festival performances at a Glance

The Akiba Festival performances are folk performances forming part of the procession accompanying the mikoshi at Akiba Shrine.

Banners, hats, music, torimono, dancers, and other participants proceed in a line, with performances including tossing torimono back and forth, stick dances, sword dances, and comic characters.

Held from the 16th to the 18th day of the first lunar month, the festival is maintained by parishioners from three hamlets in Niyodogawa Town.