Honda Hachimangu Autumn Grand Festival "Owatari" Ritual & Honda Danjiri Festival

About this event

The Autumn Grand Festival of Honda Hachimangu Shrine is the most grandly celebrated ritual of the year. At 10:00 AM, the regular festival service is solemnized, and around 8:00 PM, the sacred "Owatari Ritual" takes place, wherein the deity is transferred into a mikoshi (portable shrine) and carried in a divine procession into the burial mound of Emperor Ōjin. This ritual was originally a Buddhist-influenced ceremony known as Hōjōe (release of captive living creatures). Historically, it is said to have been performed carrying the "National Treasure Chijiraden Kondo-sō Mikoshi," donated by Lord Minamoto no Yoritomo in the 1200s. While a new portable shrine is used today, the festival in ancient times involved releasing living beings as an act of atonement for lives taken in warfare. Traces of that era can still be seen in the Hōjō Pond within the shrine grounds. Although the Buddhist temple structures were lost due to the anti-Buddhist movement (Haibutsu Kishaku) during the Meiji era, the festival continues today as the Owatari Ritual to express gratitude for everyday divine blessings, pray for the protection of parishioners and devotees, and wish for abundant harvests. A "Mikoshi Kuguridokoro" is also set up, where visitors can crawl beneath the portable shrine to pray for good health and protection from illness. In the past, the palanquin was carried across the shrine's Hōjō Bridge toward the imperial tomb; today, crossing takes place via an adjacent bridge due to age-related wear. Honda Hachimangu's Owatari Ritual—a ritual held inside an imperial tomb passed down from ancient times—welcomes all worshippers with a connection to visit.

Venue

Honda Hachimangu Shrine

3-2-8 Honda, Habikino, Osaka 583-0857