Mifune Festival (Kumano Hayatama Taisha Annual Festival) 御船祭（熊野速玉大社例大祭）

Official explanation

Kumano Hayatama Taisha, one of the three Kumano Grand Shrines (Kumano Sanzan), holds its annual Mifune Festival on October 16 at the estuary of the Kumano River. This boating festival can be traced back around 1,800 years and still retains the same ancient traditions. Its roots are thought to be based in the region’s long history of shipbuilding.

During the festival, a portable shrine carrying the deity enshrined at Kumano Hayatama Taisha is transported to an ancient ritual site on a beautiful, red ceremonial vessel, called the shinkosen. The oarsman dances and chants in a ritual known as the “Hari Hari Dance,” dedicated to the deity. The shinkosen is followed by a fleet of nine rowboats, each crewed by 11 people, who race 1.6 kilometers along the Kumano River and three times around Mifune Island. The portable shrine is then taken to the otabisho, the deity’s resting point, which is a ritual site along the river.

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In 1964, the festival was designated an Important Intangible Folk Culture Property of Japan.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.