NIPPON Kichi - 日本吉

2007/7/24

八代 妙見祭 Yatsushiro Myoukensai Yatsushiro Myoken Festival

Jp En


Myoken Festival is held on November 22 to 23 at Yatsushiro Shrine in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture. Together with Kunchi Festival at Suwa Shrine in Nagasaki and Hojoya at Hakozakigu Shrine in Fukuoka, it is counted as one of the three greatest festivals in Kyushu.

Since founded in 1186, Yatsushiro Shrine has been popularly called Myokengu as it enshrines Myoken Bosatsu or Amenonakanushi no Kami as a Shinto deity; thereby the festival is named Myoken Festival. Legend has it that the deity Myoken traveled on Kida (a fabulous animal with a serpent's head and a turtle's body) and landed on Yatsushiro about 1,300 years ago. The first festival was held in the early Edo period (the early 17th century) by Hosokawa Tadaoki, the lord of the Kumamoto domain according to this legend.

The parade of mikoshi (portable shrine) followed by the colorful floats decorated with hooded halberds, gigantic Kidas, the lion dancers, men in the costumes of samurai’s male-servants, a gun troop and spirited divine horses, all make this festival pompous and splendor. The divine horse valiantly gallops on the riverbank, while Kidas perform humorous dances. It is a very amusing festival.

Add this to Favorites

address
Myoken-machi, Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture 866-0802
name
Yatsushiro Myoken Festival




NIPPON Kichi - 日本吉 - 日本語に切り替える NIPPON Kichi - 日本吉 - to english

"Nippon-kichi" leads you to places, people and things that reveal a certain Japanese aesthetic.

Articles: 5444
Categories
Prefectures
Keywords shuffle
Favorites
Keywords Search
View history



Linkclub NewsLetter