Sumiyoshi Shrine Umakake Ritual

About this event

Held annually as the annual festival of Sumiyoshi Shrine in Kawachinagano City, Osaka Prefecture, the 'Umakake Ritual' is a Shinto ritual in which shrine parishioners wearing happi coats run through an approximately 300-meter riding ground on the shrine grounds alongside bareback horses by holding their leads without riding them. The horses wear no bits or reins; instead, a white sash (tasuki) is tied around their heads and white bleached cloth (sarashi) is wrapped around their bellies. The chief priest carries a wooden halberd (hoko) from the main hall and steps onto a platform set up in the riding ground, while parishioners guarding its four corners stand holding green bamboo stalks. The ritual begins when a Japanese flag fan (Hinomaru fan) is waved; a sacred horse circles the halberd platform three times, dashes toward the riding ground, and makes three round trips. Afterward, other waiting parishioners and horses dash out, repeating round trips for nearly one hour. This ritual is said to have originated in the year 252 when a bareback horse race was held to celebrate Empress Jingu's expedition to Korea.

Venue

Sumiyoshi Shrine (Kawachinagano City)

453 Oyamadacho, Kawachinagano, Osaka 586-0094