Bonten Festival [Hagurosan Shrine]

About this event

The Bonten Festival will be held on November 21, 2026, at Hagurosan Shrine in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture. This festival is a major annual celebration to express gratitude for the year's harvest and dedicate bonten. A bonten is a sacred ritual object made of a bamboo pole up to 15 meters long topped with tufts crafted from washi paper and plastic tape. Young men wearing happi coats parade through town tossing the bonten into the air with vigorous chants of "Hoisa, hoisa!" Dozens of bonten gather from each district to climb the 3-kilometer approach toward the shrine at the mountain summit. Upon arriving at the shrine, the bonten are erected on scaffolds and dedicated. It is a traditional festival celebrating the autumn harvest, with auspicious celebratory mochi rice cakes scattered to the crowd. It is said that climbing the difficult final slope, Karasso-zaka, purifies both body and mind.

Venue

Hagurosan Shrine

Hagurosan Shrine, 1743 Tsurutamachi, Utsunomiya, Tochigi 320-0851