Kuba Festival & Kuba-shuku Honjin Jin-iri Yakko

About this event

The "Kuba-shuku Honjin Jin-iri Yakko" of the Kuba Festival is a traditional culture that has been inherited, preserved, and nurtured by local residents, and became a municipal designated Important Cultural Property in May 2003 (Heisei 15). In Kuba-shuku, which flourished as a post town on the Saigoku Kaido highway during the Edo period, there was a honjin (official inn for high officials) named "Koryokan" where feudal lords (daimyo) stayed. It is called "Jin-iri Yakko" because it preserves the formal vanguard actions performed as a herald when a daimyo entered this honjin. A major highlight is the 31-person procession composed of the leader called Sairyo, two-person squads, Ohako-yaku (box bearers), Chuyakko, and finally Oyidokko. The formal camp-entry movements performed at key points along the procession route—known as "furikomi"—and the handoff of boxes and spears performed while chanting unique calls are full of dynamism. The time-honored heavy feathered spear (omokeyari) is estimated to have been crafted in 1878 (Meiji 11) and weighs over 30 kilograms.

Venue

Kuba Otoshi Shrine

5-8-1034 Kuba, Otake, Hiroshima 739-0651