Kamishinden Tenjinsha Tondo Festival

Festival highlights

A highlight is the distinctive yagura, made by layering round bamboo and straw around pine.

Its base diameter and height are both 3.5 meters. It is distinctive in the way the rope is wound clockwise, with straw tucked between the layers.

At around 8 p.m., a person who has received a prayer lights the yagura with a torch. It is said that if the flames rise straight up, the year’s harvest will be good.

A New Year tradition in Kamishinden, where a yagura of pine and straw is enveloped in flames as people pray for a good harvest and good health

What to expect

At the festival, a person who has received a prayer transfers fire from a sacred lantern to a torch, then enters the yagura and lights it while singing the Ise Ondo.

Flames rising straight up are considered a sign of a good harvest that year.

There is also a tradition of taking the festival fire home to cook and eat azuki porridge.

Location and access

Venue and address

Plaza in front of Kamishinden Tenjinsha / 1-17-1 Kamishinden, Toyonaka City

Address 1-17-1 Kamishinden, Toyonaka City

Dates and season

Season

Dusk every year on January 14

Frequency

Every year

Accommodation and hotels PR

Origins and History of Kamishinden Tenjinsha Tondo Festival

The Kamishinden Tenjinsha Tondo Festival is handed down as a New Year fire-lighting event to pray for a good harvest and good health.

The festival features specific practices, including how the yagura is built and lit, and the custom of taking the fire home to cook azuki porridge.

It was designated a city-designated cultural property of Toyonaka in Showa 62 (1987), on September 1.

Official information

The City of Toyonaka introduces the “Kamishinden Tenjinsha Tondo Festival” as a city-designated cultural property.

The listing includes its location, festival timing, the structure of the yagura, how it is lit, and customs associated with a good harvest and good health.

Kamishinden Tenjinsha Tondo Festival at a Glance

The Kamishinden Tenjinsha Tondo Festival is a fire-lighting event held at dusk every year on January 14 in Kamishinden, Toyonaka City.

A yagura, 3.5 meters high and 3.5 meters in base diameter, is built mainly from pine, with bamboo and straw. At around 8 p.m., a person who has received a prayer lights it with a torch.

It is said that if the flames rise straight up, the year’s harvest will be good. There is also a tradition of taking the fire home to cook azuki porridge as a prayer for good health.