Guided by taiko and chants, the Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas descend to welcome the faithful to the Pure Land
Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas Welcoming Ceremony
Festival information
EVENT INFORMATION- Location
- Junenji Temple
- Area
- Nagano Prefecture・Komoro 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
- Last updated
- 2026/10/25
The Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas Welcoming Ceremony, handed down at Junenji Temple in Hirahara, Komoro City, is a mukaeko ceremony in which people reenact Amida Nyorai and the bodhisattvas guiding a practitioner of Buddhist chanting to the Pure Land.
About Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas Welcoming Ceremony
The Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas Welcoming Ceremony is a mukaeko ceremony handed down at Junenji Temple in Hirahara, Komoro City.
People reenact a scene from the teachings of Pure Land Buddhism in which Amida Nyorai and 25 bodhisattvas guide a practitioner of Buddhist chanting, at the moment of death, to the Pure Land.
Bodhisattva masks and Buddhist implements have also been passed down, and in Showa 45 the ceremony was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Komoro City.
Source: 二十五菩薩来迎会／小諸市オフィシャルサイト
Festival highlights
At the signal of the opening , 2 young people wearing bird masks circle the ritual space, repeating distinctive movements.
Next, 2 celestial beings quietly circle the ritual space. Then, to the accompaniment of Buddhist chants and hymns, 25 holy beings arrive, led by Fudo Myoo.
The central scene of the welcoming ceremony is when Kannon and Seishi move to either side of Amida Nyorai, and Seishi lifts the practitioner of Buddhist chanting with both hands and places them on Kannon’s lotus pedestal.
Guided by taiko and chants, the Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas descend to welcome the faithful to the Pure Land
What to expect
The event begins with the sound of a taiko signaling its start. Young people in bird masks, celestial beings, men in montsuki hakama chanting Buddhist hymns, and the 25 holy beings appear in sequence.
Once all the bodhisattvas have assembled, they turn to face forward, and Kannon and Seishi guide the practitioner of Buddhist chanting onto a lotus pedestal.
Afterward, they take up a posture for returning to the accompaniment of taiko and chants, and head back to the hall, led by a man wearing kamishimo.
The event lasts about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Location and access
- Venue and address
Junenji Temple (Hirahara, Komoro City)
Address Hirahara, Komoro City
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Nearby attractions
小諸城
長野県小諸市にある城跡
Origins and History of Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas Welcoming Ceremony
No clear account of the origins of the Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas Welcoming Ceremony has been passed down. However, some of the Bodhisattva masks used in the ceremony date from the late Kamakura period to the early Muromachi period, so it is thought to have originated around that time.
Its background includes the mappo belief, which spread from around the mid-Heian period to the early Kamakura period, and the activities of Pure Land Buddhism, which taught aversion to this defiled world and aspiration for the Pure Land.
A mukaeko is a Buddhist service that brings paintings of the descent of Amida and the bodhisattvas to life, and in Hirahara it has been known as the Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas Welcoming Ceremony.
Official information
Komoro City Official Website, “Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas Welcoming Ceremony”
Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas Welcoming Ceremony at a Glance
The Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas Welcoming Ceremony is a folk event in Hirahara, Komoro City, that reenacts the mukaeko ceremony handed down at Junenji Temple.
Its highlight is the sequence in which, following young people in bird masks and celestial beings, 25 holy beings arrive, guide a practitioner of Buddhist chanting onto a lotus pedestal, and return to the hall.
The event expresses the teachings of Pure Land Buddhism, and Bodhisattva masks and Buddhist implements of historical and artistic value have also been passed down.
Japanese Festivals.jp Editorial Team
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Article updated: 2026/10/25
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