A traditional harvest-prayer event depicting a year of rice cultivation in a leafy paddy
Ta-asobi Festival
Festival information
EVENT INFORMATION- Dates
- 2027/01/03Scheduled
- Season / frequency
- Every year in the afternoon of January 3 / Every year
- Location
- Toga Shrine, Satomiya grounds
- Area
- Aichi Prefecture・Toyokawa City(From Tokyo: approx. 1 h 40 min–2 h · 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
- Wishes behind the festival
- Last updated
- 2026/11/11
Toga Shrine’s Ta-asobi Festival is a New Year folk performance in which parishioners act out farming movements in a rice paddy laid out with chinquapin leaves, praying for an abundant harvest.
About Ta-asobi Festival
The Ta-asobi Festival is a rice-growing ritual held every year in the afternoon of January 3 at Toga Shrine in Toyokawa City, Aichi Prefecture.
Chinquapin leaves are spread across the to represent a rice paddy, and parishioners act out the farming work, from plowing the fields through celebrating the harvest, while praying for an abundant harvest.
Designated a municipal intangible folk cultural property, this local folk performance has been handed down in the shrine grounds during the busy New Year period, when visitors come for their first shrine visit of the year.
Festival highlights
One highlight is the 11 scenes, from plowing the fields through harvesting, performed in the “rice paddy,” which is covered with chinquapin leaves.
The field workers, played by parishioners, line up side by side and act out sowing rice seeds, driving away birds, planting rice seedlings, and other tasks.
The field workers also exchange improvised lines during the performance, bringing moments of laughter to the shrine grounds during the New Year period.
A traditional harvest-prayer event depicting a year of rice cultivation in a leafy paddy
What to expect
At the Ta-asobi Festival, parishioners dressed as the overseer, paddy owner, field workers, and shrine maiden perform a series of movements beginning with the spring field-tilling ritual.
The field workers sow rice seeds, drive away birds, plant rice seedlings, and carry out other tasks, while the person playing the overseer recites a prayer over the stacked sheaves of rice.
The 11-act performance ends with a norito prayer offered to the harvested rice stacks.
Location and access
- Venue and address
Toga Shrine, Satomiya grounds: 2 Nishigakiuchi, Ichinomiya-cho, Toyokawa City
- Train and bus
About a 5-minute walk from Mikawa-Ichinomiya Station on the JR Iida Line / 20 minutes by taxi from Toyokawa-inari Station on the Meitetsu Toyokawa Line
- By car
About 5 minutes by car toward Shinshiro from the Toyokawa Interchange on the Tomei Expressway
- Parking
Available・Free
Address 2 Nishigakiuchi, Ichinomiya-cho, Toyokawa City, Aichi 441-1231
Dates and season
Held on January 3, 2027 (Sun), starting at 2:30 p.m.
The venue is the grounds of Toga Shrine’s Satomiya.
As a celebratory ritual praying for an abundant harvest, parishioners dressed as field workers and an overseer act out the stages of farming, from tilling the fields to harvesting the rice.
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Nearby attractions
御油の松並木資料館
愛知県豊川市の博物館・美術館のスポットです。
砥鹿神社
愛知県豊川市にある神社
豊川市桜ヶ丘ミュージアム
愛知県豊川市にある博物館と美術館の機能を持つ複合文化施設
Origins and History of Ta-asobi Festival
Ta-asobi is known, alongside , as a folk performance associated with rice-growing rituals, and the Mikawa region is considered one of its major centers of transmission.
At Toga Shrine, the ichinomiya of Mikawa Province, this event has been passed down as a performance depicting the stages of farming from tilling the fields to harvesting.
Toga Shrine’s Ta-asobi Festival, Kayu-ura Festival, and Himatsuri Festival were designated intangible folk cultural properties of Toyokawa City in 1998.
Official information
The Toyokawa City official video newsletter, “Moving Newsletter,” features a video introducing the Ta-asobi Festival on January 3, 2026.
Ta-asobi Festival at a Glance
The Ta-asobi Festival is held in the grounds of Toga Shrine, where a rice paddy is laid out using chinquapin leaves. Parishioners act out the stages of rice cultivation and pray for an abundant harvest.
The performance unfolds in 11 acts, including plowing the fields, sowing rice seeds, driving away birds, and planting rice seedlings, and concludes with a norito prayer offered to the harvested rice stacks.
It takes place every year in the afternoon of January 3 and is designated a municipal intangible folk cultural property.
Japanese Festivals.jp Editorial Team
Celebrating local culture and helping you discover a side of Japan you never knew.
Article updated: 2026/11/11
