City Celebration Shake Up! ｜The Great Festival of Ogikiki Shrine in Japan

Jul 18, 2021

When it comes to festivals in Aichi Prefecture, you can't miss the float festival with various floats.

This article will introduce you to the great festival of Ogikiki Shrine .

For those who are interested in the Aichi Float Festival, you can go to the Japan First Association of Aichi Float Festival to check the detailed information!

The grand festival of Ogikiki Shrine is in
It is held every year on the last Saturday and Sunday in March or the first Saturday and Sunday in April.

Next, let's travel through time and space and return to the festival in 2019 !

When I came to the shrine early in the morning, it was unexpectedly quiet, and I could not feel the lively atmosphere of the festival.

So I asked the shrine staff for the activity time, and the staff kindly lent us the itinerary to remake it.

We waited according to the detour route of the float around the border.
The float appears in front of you according to the timetable!

What does it feel like when the float is slowly approaching? Let's experience it together!

The people on the top floor of the marching room kept throwing paper flowers.

The first floor of the float was full of people playing music.

Nearby residents will also follow the float for a walk. It can be said that it is an important day for the whole family to go out in the countryside.

Every time the floats arrive at a fixed point, they will stop to rest, and the people who carry the floats and those who ride on the floats will exchange with each other.

Since there is a small slope on the way to the main hall of the shrine, it is difficult to imagine how to move the heavy float to the main hall entirely by hand.

Let's see how they moved the float to the main hall in one go!

After arriving at the main hall, there will be continuous shouts, and a large number of paper flowers will be sprinkled from the float.

Next is the speech bridge that is inevitable in large-scale events

Then a mirror opening ceremony (かがみびらき) was performed.

The so-called mirror opening (かがみびらき) is a celebration ceremony in festive activities such as prayers, celebrations, wedding banquets, and openings. Use a mallet to break the wooden lid of the sake.

Participants, whether they are ordinary people participating in the festival or shrine staff, can line up to receive a cup of sake to drink.
It is said that this cup of sake has the function of praying and praying.

In the atrium of the shrine, a group of students performed traditional music of the festival with traditional musical instruments as a cultural heritage.

Then the three little witches will perform the Kagura (かぐら) dance .

 Mage Goddess Music
Kagura of Miko Dance. The dance originally intended for the gods was styled into a dance of prayer and consecration.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kagura

For a detailed introduction to Miko and Kagura, you can go to Wikipedia ( Miko , Kagura ).

The Kagura (かぐら) dance takes about fifteen minutes to complete. This time, I will share more than three minutes of it with you. Let’s enjoy the sacred Kagura dance together.

A must-have for goldfish at Japanese festivals

(Don’t get me wrong, goldfish are also fished with thin paper sticks. In the photo, the child is about to take away the little goldfish and the vendor is scooping water into the bag.)

and water polo

Fishing for water polo is to use a piece of slender white paper to tie a metal hook, hold the upper end of the paper with your hand (do not pinch the hook, it is regarded as cheating), and you can count all the water polo before the paper breaks. Take it home, 100 yen for a hook.

In addition, on the other side, you can also ask for free test dumplings, two skewers per person, and warm oden (although it has been until the end of March, it is still a little chilly)