Agata Matsuri

The Agata Matsuri is a festival held every year from June 5 into the small hours of June 6 at Agata Shrine in Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture. Because a portable shrine called the bonten proceeds through darkness with all the lights along the route extinguished, it is known by the names Festival of the Dark Night and Strange Festival of the Darkness, and it is celebrated as one of Japan's darkness festivals alongside such rites as the annual festival of Okunitama Shrine in Fuchu, Tokyo.

Agata Shrine stands about one hundred meters from the south gate of Byodo-in, a World Heritage site, and it enshrines Konohanasakuya-hime-no-mikoto. The heart of the festival is the bonten togyo, the procession of the portable shrine performed late at night, in which the men of the town blocks carry the bonten. Because the houses too lower their lights to receive the shrine as it passes, it has drawn many people as a fantastical and mysterious festival symbolic of early summer in Uji.

History and Origins

The Agata Matsuri of Agata Shrine is said to have begun with the Michiae-no-matsuri, a rite performed by the Fujiwara clan in prayer for the tranquility of Uji. The Michiae-no-matsuri was a festival rooted in an ancient faith that sought to prevent the entry of plague and calamity at the boundaries of the roads leading to the capital, and the prayer to protect the land of Uji is said to have become the prototype of the later Agata Matsuri. Its origins, reaching back to the age of the Fujiwara who built Byodo-in, testify to the antiquity of this festival.

The Agata Matsuri was once held on the fifteenth day of the fifth lunar month. At this festival conducted through the night, there was a custom for people along the route to await the passing of the shrine, and as an old folk practice it is recorded to have carried associations of a sexual character as well, so that in earlier times it was also called the seed-receiving festival. Such records show that the Agata Matsuri was not merely a shrine rite but a yearly event deeply bound up with the life of the community and folk belief.

One of the great pillars of the festival is the rite of the oonusa (great purification wand). Leaving the oonusa hall, the great wand proceeds along Agata Street, Shinmachi Street, and Honmachi Street together with wand-bearers, sacred horses, and many other attendants, performing purification rites at the corners of the town. After returning, the wand is turned three times in the hall and struck against the ground, and twelve wand-bearers then drag it along Agata Street to the Uji Bridge and, from the bridge, cast it into the Uji River together with the plague that has been purified. This act of praying for the expulsion of plague carries on the purification faith handed down since the Michiae-no-matsuri.

In recent years there was a shift in the operating structure surrounding the bearers of the bonten togyo, and for a time the festival continued in a divided form, but it is reported that agreement was reached among those concerned for it to be unified under Agata Shrine from 2026 onward. Though it has changed its form many times over its long history, the core of the festival, in which the bonten proceeds through the darkness, has been handed down unchanged.

Highlights

The bonten procession through the dark　The greatest highlight of the Agata Matsuri is the bonten togyo performed late in the night of June 5. Amid pitch-black darkness in which all the lights along the route have been extinguished, the men of the town blocks proceed carrying the bonten. The townscape lowering its lights to receive the shrine, and the figure of the bonten floating in the darkness, create a fantastical and mysterious scene found in no other festival.

The dynamic spinning of the bonten　In the bonten procession, the greatest spectacle is the bunmawashi, in which the bearers spin the bonten vigorously. The act of powerfully swinging the huge bonten around in the darkness is full of force, and the chants of the bearers and the fervor of the crowd unite to bring the festival to its climax.

The oonusa rite praying for the expulsion of plague　The oonusa rite, in which the great wand proceeds performing purifications at the corners of the town and is finally dragged by the wand-bearers to the Uji Bridge and cast into the river, is also an act emblematic of the Agata Matsuri. Carrying the prayer for the expulsion of plague and the warding off of calamity handed down since the Michiae-no-matsuri, it shows a solemnity of purification faith quite different from the vigorous bonten procession.

The shrine grounds close to Byodo-in　The stage of the festival, Agata Shrine, stands about one hundred meters from the south gate of the World Heritage site Byodo-in. The precincts of this ancient shrine enshrining Konohanasakuya-hime, together with the historic townscape of Uji, form the backdrop of this strange festival of the dark night. The very location, a festival held in a corner of a renowned ancient capital, heightens the appeal of the Agata Matsuri all the more.

The bustle of night stalls filling the precincts　Alongside the mysterious rites, until around ten in the evening on June 5 many night stalls line the precincts of Agata Shrine and its surroundings. As a great festival representative of Uji it bustles with large crowds, so that one can enjoy in a single night two faces of the festival: the lively bustle from afternoon into evening, and the serene rites of the darkness late at night.

A yearly event coloring early summer in Uji　The Agata Matsuri is a seasonal feature of early summer in Uji, held every year in early June. As the rainy season approaches, this ancient rite conducted in darkness is rooted in the community as a yearly event announcing a turning point in the year for Uji. As a festival distilling the history and faith unique to the ancient city of Uji, it remains in the memory of those who visit.

Event Information

• Location: Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture
• Venue: Agata Shrine (72 Uji Renge, Uji City) and its surroundings
• Dates: From June 5 into the small hours of June 6 every year (the bonten procession is late on the night of the 5th)
• Main events: Bonten procession, the oonusa rite, night stalls (until around 10 p.m. on the 5th)
• Access: Within walking distance of JR Uji Station or Keihan Uji Station (near the south gate of Byodo-in)
• Admission: Free to view. Note that the bonten procession is held late at night, and dates and operating structure may change.

Around the Area

Very close to Agata Shrine is Byodo-in, a component asset of the World Cultural Heritage Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. The Phoenix Hall, built by Fujiwara no Yorimichi, is a representative work of Heian-period architecture also known from the design of the ten-yen coin, and its graceful form housing a seated image of Amida Nyorai is a must-see. Together with a visit to the Agata Matsuri, one can visit this celebrated temple representative of the history of Uji.

Uji is also famous as one of Japan's foremost centers of tea production, and around the Uji Bridge long-established tea houses and tea merchants stand side by side. Savoring sweets and matcha desserts made with Uji tea while enjoying the flow of the Uji River and the historic townscape is an experience unique to this land. Many tourists visit even outside the festival season.

Uji is also known as the setting of the Ten Quires of Uji, the final part of The Tale of Genji. Along the Uji River are scattered such attractions as the Tale of Genji Museum and Ujigami Shrine (a World Heritage site), and one can enjoy strolling while reflecting on the world of Heian literature. Uji, the stage of the Agata Matsuri, is a land where the culture of Japan from ancient into medieval times is layered many times over.

Related Information

• Month: June (summer, an early-summer yearly event)
• Location: Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture (Kinki region)
• Origin: Said to have begun with the Michiae-no-matsuri performed by the Fujiwara clan in prayer for the tranquility of Uji
• Features: A strange festival of the dark night held in darkness with lights extinguished; the bonten procession and the oonusa rite
• Enshrined deity: Konohanasakuya-hime-no-mikoto (Agata Shrine)
• Other names: Strange Festival of the Darkness; formerly also called the seed-receiving festival

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