Otaue Festival at Kumano Shrine

Festival highlights

Its most distinctive feature is the use of small enoki branches instead of rice seedlings.

Rather than reenacting rice planting exactly as a farm task, the festival uses branches from a familiar tree to represent rice seedlings.

It is also noteworthy that this agricultural event has been passed down as a tradition of Kumano Shrine.

Selected as a city-designated cultural property, this festival offers insight into the folk culture of Asahi City.

A rice-planting festival in Asahi City that represents rice cultivation with small enoki branches

What to expect

The festival represents rice planting using small branches of an enoki tree in place of rice seedlings.

This is the specific practice confirmed by the sources; they do not describe the actual sequence of events or the details of the movements.

It is generally held on the first Sunday of April and is positioned as a festival themed around spring farm work.

It is registered as a local cultural property as a folk event passed down at Kumano Shrine.

Location and access

Venue and address

Kumano Shrine (715 Seiwa Otsu, Asahi City)

Address 715 Seiwa Otsu, Asahi City

Dates and season

Season

First Sunday of April

Accommodation and hotels PR

Origins and History of Otaue Festival at Kumano Shrine

The available sources do not explain the origins or date of establishment of the Otaue Festival at Kumano Shrine.

Asahi City’s list of designated cultural properties records that it became a city-designated intangible folk cultural property in Showa 50 November 18.

Chiba Prefecture’s traditional culture materials also introduce it as a cultural resource of Asahi City, noting that it is “performed using small branches of an enoki tree instead of rice seedlings.”

Official information

Asahi City Official Website, “List of Designated Cultural Properties”

Otaue Festival at Kumano Shrine at a Glance

The Otaue Festival at Kumano Shrine is a city-designated intangible folk cultural property passed down at Kumano Shrine in Seiwa Otsu, Asahi City.

Its distinctive feature is that it represents rice planting using small enoki branches instead of rice seedlings.

実施日の目安は4月第1日曜日です。