Jingara Mochi Event

Festival highlights

The highlight is the mochi-grabbing, when young men wearing only loincloths compete for the mochi offerings inside the shrine building.

When the mochi is thrown in, the young men form a single mass, shouting as they wrestle and tear the mochi apart.

The broken mochi indicates good or bad fortune for crops, weather, and other matters, making the link between forceful movement and fortune-telling a distinctive feature.

A traditional Miwanoyama event that entrusts the year’s good or bad fortune to how the mochi offerings break

What to expect

The event begins with 8 kinds of offerings and mochi offerings presented before the kami.

After the shrine ceremony and the “to-watashi” handover of duties, with 5 households each taking responsibility for this year and next year, young men wearing only loincloths enter the shrine building. The mochi offerings are thrown in, and the mochi-grabbing begins.

After competing to grab the mochi, they tell the year’s good or bad fortune based on how it breaks.

Location and access

Venue and address

Miwa Morozu Shrine, 5-619 Miwanoyama, Nagareyama City

Train and bus

20 minutes on foot from Hatsukari Station on the Tobu Urban Park Line / 20 minutes on foot from Nagareyama Station on the Ryutetsu Nagareyama Line / 21 minutes on foot from Nagareyama Centralpark Station on the Tsukuba Express / 2 minutes on foot from the Miwa Morozu Shrine-mae bus stop

Address 5-619 Miwanoyama, Nagareyama City

Dates and season

Season

2nd Sunday of January

Frequency

Every year

Accommodation and hotels PR

Origins and History of Jingara Mochi Event

The Jingara Mochi event is a festival tradition passed down since ancient times. In Showa 52December 22, it was designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Nagareyama City.

It used to be held every January 8, but now takes place on the 2nd Sunday of January.

According to the city’s official record from 2011, the Jingara Mochi Preservation Society runs the event, which is described as a custom of telling fortunes about crop yields from how the mochi breaks.

Official information

The Nagareyama City official website’s “Miwa Morozu Shrine Jingara Mochi Event” page introduces the event’s details, date, cultural property classification, and location.

Jingara Mochi Event at a Glance

This event, held every January at Miwa Morozu Shrine in Miwanoyama, Nagareyama City, is a designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

After preparing 8 kinds of offerings and handing over duties, young men wearing only loincloths compete to grab the mochi offerings and tell fortunes from how the mochi breaks.

The date has changed from January 8 in the past to the 2nd Sunday of January today, but the custom of making offerings and grabbing mochi has been passed down.