Kaizu Otaue Festival

Festival highlights

One of the main highlights is the procession from the home of a parishioner known as the festival host to the shrine.

The procession moves forward to the sound of bells and drums. In the shrine grounds, the priest, the rice-field preparer, the young rice-planters, and others perform rice-planting songs and distinctive call-and-response songs.

A distinctive scene in the festival is children dressed as young rice-planters and parishioners dancing as they sing rice-planting songs back and forth.

Prayers for a good harvest in Kaizu, reflected in rice-planting songs and the procession

What to expect

The festival features a procession from the festival host’s home to the shrine, followed by a dedicatory Otaue Festival rite in the shrine grounds.

The priest, the rice-field preparer, the young rice-planters, and others take on roles portraying the work of farming, from cultivating fields, sowing seeds, and raising seedlings to planting rice and harvesting.

The related 2026 experience program was advertised as including an opportunity to watch the procession, an explanation of the festival, and a chance to see children dressed as young rice-planters and parishioners perform rice-planting songs.

How to take part

The related 2026 experience program was advertised with a capacity of 10 people and a participation fee of 2,500 yen, with applications to the Miyama Branding Promotion Committee.

This is a recruitment notice for an experience program to watch the procession and dedicatory rites, not the general participation requirements for the festival itself.

Location and access

Venue and address

Chikugo no Kuni Aso Shrine (1642 Kaizu, Takata-machi, Miyama)

Train and bus

15-minute walk from Minami-Setaka Station on the JR Kagoshima Main Line

Address 1642 Kaizu, Takata-machi, Miyama

Dates and season

2026 Event Information (the listed dates have passed)

The festival was scheduled for March 1 (Sun) in 2026, and the related experience program was due to begin at 1:15 p.m.

Accommodation and hotels PR

Origins and History of Kaizu Otaue Festival

The Kaizu Otaue Festival is said to have begun after Ono Izuminokami, a chief retainer of the Yanagawa domain who served in the Korean campaign, visited Aso Shrine and later donated a shrine building and sacred rice fields at the present site in Genna 8 (1622).

It has been passed down in the shrine grounds as a sacred rite portraying the seasons of farming, from cultivating the fields in early spring to the autumn harvest.

In February 24, 1998, it was designated a City Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

Official information

The festival is organized by Chikugo no Kuni Aso Shrine.

For festival inquiries, the contact listed is the Social Education Division of the Miyama City Board of Education (TEL 0944-32-9183).

Kaizu Otaue Festival at a Glance

The Kaizu Otaue Festival is a traditional event praying for a good harvest, passed down at Chikugo no Kuni Aso Shrine in Kaizu, Takata-machi, Miyama.

A procession from the household of the festival host to the shrine is followed by the priest, the rice-field preparer, and the young rice-planters exchanging rice-planting songs as they portray the agricultural year, from cultivating the fields to the harvest.

It is said to have begun in 1622 and was designated a City Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1998.