About this event
The Tadachi Hanaguma Festival is a traditional festival held in Agematsu Town, Nagano Prefecture. Held annually on the first Sunday of October as the annual festival of Gonomiya Shrine, the festival's highlight is sacred decorated Kiso horses parading approximately 800 meters from Tadachi Station Square to Gonomiya Shrine. The lead horse carries the sacred himorogi where a deity dwells, the middle horse carries chrysanthemums symbolizing an abundant harvest, and the rear horse carries the sun-and-moon banner displaying the Nangusha shrine crest. Around these horses, about 365 bamboo splints decorated with five-colored paper shaped like rice ears are displayed to pray for warding off evil and ensuring a bountiful harvest. After the sacred horses circle the Gonomiya Shrine grounds three times, the crowd rushes all at once to grab the flowers decorating the horses, creating the festival's unique climax. It is said that displaying the captured flowers at the entrance of a house wards off evil, while placing them on rice field ridges repels pests. Tadachi Kabuki is also sometimes performed on the eve of the festival.
Official website (Japanese) ↗Venue
Agematsu Town
Agematsu-machi, Kiso-gun, Nagano
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