The Oyama Memorial Rice-Planting Ceremony in Shiobara

Festival highlights

A highlight is the rice-planting dance, with performers in tengu masks and comical masks, straw hats, and yukata forming a procession.

To rice-planting songs and the beat of a shime-daiko drum, the saotome dancers form a circle and perform dances incorporating the movements of planting rice.

Afterward, decorated cattle pass beneath the memorial altar and head to the fields after receiving an Ōharae purification rite from a Shinto priest and a memorial service from a Buddhist priest.

The transition from cattle plowing the fields to rice planting accompanied by drums and songs is another distinctive sight of this event.

Source: 国指定文化財等データベース

Shobara’s agricultural heritage, passed down through prayers for cattle and horses and rice-planting songs

What to expect

The day before the event, a memorial altar is set up near the rice paddy, and the saotome dancers bundle seedlings in the nursery field.

On the day, decorated cattle gather, and the rice-planting dance begins in the early afternoon.

After the cattle pass beneath the memorial altar and receive a purification rite, they plow the field, and the saotome dancers plant seedlings, using a rope as a guide.

The work proceeds to the rhythm of the leader’s clappers, the taiko drum played by the “sage,” and rice-planting songs. The following day, ofuda talismans are presented at Daisen Shrine.

How to take part

Visitors can watch the event.

Location and access

Venue and address

In front of Ishi Shrine, 628 Shiobara, Tojo-cho, Shobara City, Hiroshima Prefecture

By car

About 20 minutes from Tojo IC on the Chugoku Expressway.

Parking

There is no parking.

Source: 塩原の大山供養田植 | 庄原市 | 子供とお出かけ情報「いこーよ」

Address 628 Shiobara, Tojo-cho, Shobara City, Hiroshima Prefecture

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Dates and season

2026 event information (the listed dates have passed)

The event was scheduled for May 31 (Sunday) in 2026, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The venue is in front of Ishi Shrine, and the event is canceled in case of rain.

The event is open to the public on site once every 4 years; this presentation was announced as the first in 8 years since the previous one, which was held without spectators.

Accommodation and hotels PR

Tips for your visit

The 2026 event information says the event is canceled in case of rain, so be aware that weather may affect it.

The venue is an open viewing area for events held in the paddy fields, where a cattle procession, field tilling, and rice planting take place.

When watching, please follow the instructions at the site and avoid obstructing the event, performers, or cattle as they pass.

No parking is listed, so if you plan to drive, you will need to check your transportation options in advance.

Origins and History of The Oyama Memorial Rice-Planting Ceremony in Shiobara

The date when this event began is unclear, but Shobara City explains that it was already being held around the medieval period, since the medieval Daisenji Engi Emaki (Illustrated Scrolls of the Origins of Daisenji Temple) depicts a memorial rice-planting ceremony.

In the region, communal rice planting, with the work guided by drums and rice-planting songs, continued until around Showa 20, and large-scale Ōtaue rice planting was also held.

In 1975, it was selected as an Intangible Folk Cultural Property requiring measures such as documentation, and since 1985 it has been presented in the paddy in front of Ishi Shrine every 4 years.

In 2002, it was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

Official information

Shobara City’s official website introduces the Oyama Memorial Rice-Planting Ceremony in Shiobara as a nationally designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

An explanation is also available in the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Database of Nationally Designated Cultural Properties.

The official site listed in the 2026 event information is the event page on the Shobara City Tourism Information website.

The Oyama Memorial Rice-Planting Ceremony in Shiobara at a Glance

The Oyama Memorial Rice-Planting Ceremony in Shiobara is a cultural event in Tojo-cho, Shobara City, bringing together rites for cattle and horses, rice-planting rituals, and folk performing arts accompanied by drums and songs.

The rice-planting dance, procession of decorated cattle, plowing by cattle, and rice planting by the saotome dancers take place in sequence.

In 2026, it was scheduled to be open to the public on site in front of Ishi Shrine on May 31, with cancellation in case of rain.

As a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, it conveys the region’s faith and agricultural traditions.