Tamatori-sai Festival

Place: Itsukushima Shrine

From 2018-08-12 to 2018-08-12

Tags: Itsukushima Shrine, sea

This festival was passed down from the civil war era, and it used to be called the Einen Festival. On July 14th, by the old calendar, an approximately 150cm square board is built in the main hall and the statue of a lucky god (whose head is made of carved wood, with a body straw wrapper) is set in the center before the Ennen Festival. After the festival, the board is unloaded while waiting men wearing loincloths impatiently rush to the statue to grab it.

After the festival, a scaffold set in the sea in front of the main hall with a long rope hanging from the top is moved manually by rail so that a treasure ball on the box is moved up and down. Young men in teams jump to grab the treasure and drop it in the sea. The battle continues and whoever brings the treasure ball to the goal, which is a banner called ‘Chushinsho’, is said to have good fortune in the future.