Furumiya Hachiman Shrine Shinkosai Festival

About this event

The Shinkosai Festival of Furumiya Hachiman Shrine is designated as an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Fukuoka Prefecture and is held annually on the last Saturday and Sunday of April. The most distinctive feature of this festival is the procession of a mikoshi (portable shrine) crafted from cedar leaves—a rarity in Japan—through the Saidosho district. To welcome the deity, the residents of Saidosho mobilize fully, dividing into teams such as cedar-leaf cutting and sacred straw rope (shimenawa) crafting. Elders gather and shape the cut cedar leaves so they can be mounted onto the mikoshi. On the festival day, former residents and those who rarely visit Saidosho always return for this celebration, and the village youths shoulder and carry the mikoshi. Struggling under the heavy load while carrying the weight of tradition through the village, their efforts convey both the solemnity of the festival and the strong bonds of the local community. The men carrying the blessed cedar leaf mikoshi are dressed in pure white garments, bowing beneath the Onusa (sacred wand) to pray for safety and good health. The mikoshi procession through the Saidosho district beneath the clear May sky delights all onlookers.

Venue

Furumiya Hachimangu Shrine

2611 Saidosho, Kawara-machi, Tagawa-gun, Fukuoka 822-1401