A traditional event in Umayadokoro, Iriyama-be, sending misfortune away with a straw horse and nenbutsu
The Sending Away of the Poverty God in Umayadokoro, Iriyama-be
Festival information
EVENT INFORMATION- Season / frequency
- February 8
- Location
- Umayadokoro Community Center in Iriyama-be and the area around Usukawa River
- Area
- Nagano Prefecture・Matsumoto City(From Tokyo: approx. 1 h 20 min–1 h 50 min · bullet train)Prefecture-level estimate to a main station or airport, not the venue. Airport access, check-in and onward travel are extra; remote areas and islands can take much longer.
- Highlights and activities
- Wishes behind the festival
- Last updated
- 2026/11/13
“The Sending Away of the Poverty God in Umayadokoro, Iriyama-be” is an event in which people pray for good health and peace, send a large straw horse and dolls beyond the settlement, and burn them. It is designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Matsumoto City.
About The Sending Away of the Poverty God in Umayadokoro, Iriyama-be
The Sending Away of the Poverty God in Umayadokoro, Iriyama-be, is held on February 8 to pray for good health and peace for the people and the settlement.
In Iriyama-be and Satoyama-be, straw figures are treated as deities of misfortune and sent beyond the settlement or burned.
In Umayadokoro, people make a straw horse and dolls representing the Poverty God, carry them to Usukawa River while chanting nenbutsu, and burn them.
In 1996, it was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Matsumoto City.
Festival highlights
A highlight is the large straw horse, about 2 m long and up to about 1.5 m high.
Dolls called “Jiji and Baba” ride on the horse, and participants carry it along while chanting, “Drive out the Poverty God, send the Poverty God away.”
Another striking scene is the elder leading the nenbutsu chant while striking a gong and turning prayer beads.
Finally, people chant nenbutsu at Usukawa River and burn the straw horse.
A traditional event in Umayadokoro, Iriyama-be, sending misfortune away with a straw horse and nenbutsu
What to expect
Early on the 8th, people smoke rice husks, chili peppers, and other items in front of each neighborhood gate. They also pound rice cakes and offer them to, or smear them on, Dosojin stone monuments.
In the afternoon, people bring straw to the community center, where members of the seniors’ club make a straw horse and dolls called Jiji and Baba.
After performing a ritual of striking a gong, turning prayer beads, and chanting nenbutsu around the straw horse, they carry the horse with the dolls aboard to Usukawa River.
After burning it at Usukawa River, they return up the slope without looking back, since it is said that misfortune will follow anyone who turns around.
Location and access
- Venue and address
Umayadokoro, Iriyama-be, Matsumoto City
- Venue
Umayadokoro Community Center in Iriyama-be and the area around Usukawa River
Address Umayadokoro, Iriyama-be, Matsumoto City
Dates and season
- Season
February 8
Accommodation and hotels PR
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Tips for your visit
It is said that if you look back after the straw horse is burned at Usukawa River, the misfortune you drove away will follow you.
As the sequence of actions, carried out according to tradition, is considered important, please take care not to disrupt the local proceedings.
Nearby attractions
旧開智学校
長野県松本市にある明治時代の擬洋風建築の小学校校舎。2019年に近代学校建築として初めて国宝に指定された
松本城
長野県松本市にある城
松本市四賀化石館
長野県松本市にある博物館
写真：photo: Qurren ( talk ) Taken with Canon IXY 10S / CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo source ·
松本市立考古博物館
長野県松本市中山にある博物館
松本市美術館
長野県松本市にある美術館
乗鞍岳
飛騨山脈南部の長野県松本市と岐阜県高山市にまたがる山
Origins and History of The Sending Away of the Poverty God in Umayadokoro, Iriyama-be
It is said that before the war, children took part in both San-kurō and this event, and that the straw horse was a simple one.
The horse was not burned back then; instead, it was taken to Hori-no-sawa, at the boundary with Kita-Umayadokoro, and discarded at the bottom of the stream.
Small straw horses were also once made, with a straw pouch containing rice cakes placed on their backs, and pulled to a Dosojin stone monument.
The wooden mallet used to strike the gong bears an inscription reading “Bunkyū 2” (1862).
Official information
Matsumoto City website, “The Sending Away of the Poverty God in Umayadokoro, Iriyama-be”
The Sending Away of the Poverty God in Umayadokoro, Iriyama-be at a Glance
The Sending Away of the Poverty God in Umayadokoro, Iriyama-be, is an event held on February 8 to pray for good health and peace in the community.
After an early-morning rite to ward off misfortune, people make a large straw horse and dolls at the community center, then carry them to Usukawa River accompanied by a gong and nenbutsu chanting.
This custom of burning the straw horse at Usukawa River embodies the wish to send the deity of misfortune beyond the settlement.
Changes since before the war and a wooden mallet inscribed with the year 1862 also speak to the history passed down in the community.
Sources and references
Japanese Festivals.jp Editorial Team
Celebrating local culture and helping you discover a side of Japan you never knew.
Article updated: 2026/11/13
