Prayers of a mountain village, joined by slash-and-burn millet and stream-dwelling yamame trout
Yamame Festival
Festival information
EVENT INFORMATION- Season / frequency
- Every year, August 26–27 / Every year
- Location
- Suwa Shrine
- Area
- Shizuoka Prefecture・Shizuoka City(From Tokyo: approx. 1 h–1 h 30 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
- Wishes behind the festival
- Last updated
- 2026/11/14
The Yamame Festival, passed down at Suwa Shrine in Tashiro, Aoi Ward, Shizuoka City, is an annual grand festival in which yamame sushi made from millet grown using slash-and-burn farming and yamame trout from Myojindani is offered to the gods. It passes on food culture and faith rooted in mountain life through practices such as the Fishing Festival and offerings.
About Yamame Festival
The Yamame Festival is a common name for the annual grand festival at Suwa Shrine in Tashiro, Aoi Ward, Shizuoka City.
The festival is known for offering yamame sushi, a special sacred food, to the gods. It carries on a traditional food culture of coating salted yamame trout with millet.
Foxtail millet is still grown using slash-and-burn farming, and yamame trout are caught in Myojindani, regarded as a sacred valley.
This event brings together the local faith and the way of life in a mountain village, traditionally based on slash-and-burn farming and hunting.
Festival highlights
A highlight is the offering of yamame sushi, made from salted yamame trout and millet, before the gods.
The millet is grown using slash-and-burn farming, and the yamame trout are caught in Myojindani, which is normally a no-fishing zone.
A ritual called the Fishing Festival, in which yamame trout are caught, is also held in Myojindani.
From gathering the ingredients to making the offering, the natural world of the mountains and people’s faith are expressed as one continuous practice.
Prayers of a mountain village, joined by slash-and-burn millet and stream-dwelling yamame trout
What to expect
The events proceed from the Fishing Festival, where yamame trout are caught in Myojindani, to the preparation of yamame sushi, then the annual festival and main festival at Suwa Shrine.
Yamame sushi is offered at the eve-of-festival celebration on August 26, and after the main festival on August 27, a ritual meal is held, with yamame sushi said to be distributed to attendees.
Growing and harvesting millet using slash-and-burn farming is also described as a practice that sustains the festival.
The capture of the fish, preparation of the food, and offering are passed down as one continuous series of events.
Location and access
- Venue and address
Suwa Shrine, 855 Tashiro, Aoi Ward, Shizuoka City
- By car
About 2 hours by car from the city center
Address 855 Tashiro, Aoi Ward, Shizuoka City
Dates and season
- Season
Every year, August 26–27
- Frequency
Every year
Accommodation and hotels PR
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Nearby attractions
久能山東照宮
静岡市駿河区にある神社
静岡市歴史博物館
静岡市の博物館
Shizuoka Sengen Shrine
静岡県静岡市にある神社
写真：Yoshizumi Endo from Tokyo, JAPAN / CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo source ·
静岡県立美術館
静岡県静岡市にある美術館
写真：江戸村のとくぞう (Edomura no Tokuzo) / CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo source ·
駿府城
静岡市にあった城
Origins and History of Yamame Festival
The Yamame Festival has been passed down as the annual grand festival of Suwa Shrine, the tutelary shrine of Tashiro.
Slash-and-burn farming has been practiced in Tashiro amid the mountains of the Southern Alps, giving rise to a way of life that makes use of millet and other grains, as well as stream fish.
Yamame sushi is said to preserve an early method of nare-zushi, in which salted fish is combined with millet.
The festival became an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Shizuoka Prefecture in Heisei 17November 29, and the preservation group is the Suwa ’ Association.
Official information
Shizuoka City’s official website introduces the Yamame Festival as the annual grand festival of Suwa Shrine in Tashiro, and provides information on the date, venue, access, cultural property designation, and the festival’s background.
A phone number for the Shizuoka City Cultural Properties Division is listed as a contact.
Yamame Festival at a Glance
The Yamame Festival is the annual grand festival held at Suwa Shrine in Tashiro, Aoi Ward, Shizuoka City.
Its defining feature is making yamame sushi with millet grown using slash-and-burn farming and yamame trout from Myojindani, then offering it before the gods.
The Fishing Festival, preparation of the yamame sushi, main festival, and ritual meal afterward are described as parts of a continuous series of events, preserving the food culture and faith of a mountain village to this day.
It is also designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Shizuoka Prefecture.
Sources and references
Japanese Festivals.jp Editorial Team
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Article updated: 2026/11/14
