Wajima Grand Festival

About this event

Wajima Grand Festival, held in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, is a heroic festival that marks the finale of summer in Noto. Every year from August 22 to 25, Shinto rituals and festivities take place at various shrines throughout Wajima City. In particular, the grand festival at Juzo Shrine features highlights such as parades of portable shrines (mikoshi) and Kiriko lanterns, as well as a powerful torch ritual (Taimatsu Shinji). The sight of torches being lit and bearers from the unlucky age group ('Otogumi') carrying the mikoshi through showering sparks is breathtaking. In addition, in Ama-machi, an in-water mikoshi ritual based on the legend of a goddess visiting a god is held, where the portable shrine carried by young men dances wildly in the sea. Kiriko are large, vertical rectangular sacred lantern floats unique to Noto, carried to ward off bad luck and give thanks for bountiful harvests and rich catches. Along with traditional crafts and the history of the port town, this festival fascinates many visitors as a hallmark of Noto's summer.

Venue

Wajima City

Wajima, Ishikawa