Kumano Hayatama Matsuri

Overview

The Kumano Hayatama Festival (Kumano Hayatama Matsuri) is the grand annual festival of Kumano Hayatama Taisha, enshrined in Shingu City, Wakayama Prefecture, and is a solemn festival representative of the Kumano region, celebrated over two days on October 15 and 16 each year. Kumano Hayatama Taisha is an ancient shrine that, together with Kumano Hongu Taisha and Kumano Nachi Taisha, makes up the Kumano Sanzan, the Three Grand Shrines of Kumano, and it is registered as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. In the land of Kumano, which has drawn deep faith for more than a thousand years, this festival has been handed down as the most important festival of the year at Kumano Hayatama Taisha, the very heart of that faith.

The greatest highlights of this festival are the Shinme Togyo Shiki, the sacred horse procession, on the first day, and the Mifune Matsuri, the boat festival, on the second day. In the boat festival, the sacred vessel bearing the divine spirit travels up the Kumano River toward Mifunejima, an island near the river mouth, and as if leading it, nine swift boats stage a valiant race upon the Kumano River. This festival, in which the eternal great river and the tales of the gods are united, was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of the nation in 2016, and its cultural value is highly esteemed.

History and Origins

Kumano Hayatama Taisha is one of the shrines of the Kumano Sanzan, which forms the heart of Kumano faith. The Kumano Sanzan refers to the three shrines of Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha, and Kumano Nachi Taisha. Each has its origins in a separate form of nature worship, but in time the shrines invoked one another's principal deities and came to be worshipped together as the Kumano Sanjo Gongen. This Kumano faith has a history of more than a thousand years, and people of every class, from retired emperors and nobles to commoners, sought the land of Kumano in such numbers that it was called the Kumano pilgrimage of the ants, forming a great current in the history of Japanese religion.

The principal deity of Kumano Hayatama Taisha is Kumano Hayatama no Okami, whose source lies in the nature worship long rooted in the land of Kumano. Together with the Kumano Kodo, the pilgrimage routes linking the Kumano Sanzan, the region including the sacred sites of Mount Koya and Yoshino and Omine was inscribed in 2004 as the UNESCO World Heritage Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. The Kumano Hayatama Festival is a rite performed in such a world-recognized sacred place, and it is a precious event that conveys the tradition of Kumano faith to this day.

At the core of the festival are the rites in which the divine spirit travels in procession riding a sacred horse or a boat. In the sacred horse procession on the first day, the divine spirit is installed upon a sacred horse and travels to the Sugi no Okarimiya, the resting place of the deity, and in the boat festival on the second day the divine spirit crosses the Kumano River aboard a vessel. These rites, which take as their stage the very nature of Kumano nurtured by water and mountains, vividly reflect the essence of Kumano faith, whose origins lie in nature worship.

Handed down over many long years, the Kumano Hayatama Festival was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of the nation as the Kumano Hayatama Grand Festival in 2016. The many rites continuously handed down in a World Heritage sacred site were thus officially and highly esteemed as folk cultural property. Preserved by the hands of local people, this festival continues to bear the important role of connecting the history and faith of Kumano to the future.

Highlights

The Boat Festival on the Kumano River The highlight of the second day is the boat festival, which takes the Kumano River as its stage. The sight of the sacred vessel bearing the divine spirit traveling up the great river toward Mifunejima near the mouth is a grand scene in which eternal nature and sacred rite are fused. The figure of the sacred boat advancing along the Kumano River, surrounded by clear waters and mountains, holds a mysterious beauty not seen at other festivals.

The Race of Nine Swift Boats As if leading the river procession of the sacred vessel, nine swift boats stage a valiant race upon the Kumano River. The swift boat race, in which the rowers ply their oars with all their strength and compete amid flying spray, is the greatest spectacle of the boat festival. Handed down by the bearers of Shingu's traditions, this race is imbued with the passion and pride of the local people.

The Sacred Horse Procession The sacred horse procession held on the first day is a solemn rite in which the divine spirit, installed upon a sacred horse, travels to the resting place called the Sugi no Okarimiya. The procession advancing quietly upon the sacred horse is wrapped in a grave and sacred atmosphere. In contrast to the dynamism of the boat festival, it adds deep charm to the festival as a serene and dignified rite.

The Performance of the Kannagi Dance At the Honden Omae no Gi on the first day, with worshippers gathered from all over the country, the kannagi dance is performed. This kagura, danced before the gods, conveys the prestige of Kumano Hayatama Taisha and the depth of its faith, adorning the solemn opening of the festival. By encountering this sacred dance, one can sense the essence of prayer that the festival of Kumano originally holds.

The Stage of a World Heritage Sacred Site Kumano Hayatama Taisha itself, where the festival takes place, is a sacred site making up the World Heritage Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. A festival performed on the special stage of one of the shrines of the Kumano Sanzan, which has drawn the faith of people for more than a thousand years, carries a weight beyond that of an ordinary annual event. To experience the rites within the air of a sacred place is a great appeal of this festival.

Encountering the Tale of Kumano Faith The Kumano Hayatama Festival is composed of many rites originating in the nature worship of Kumano, nurtured by water and mountains. In the sequence of the sacred horse procession, the divine spirit crossing the river, and the swift boat race leading it, the worldview of Kumano faith, in which nature and the gods are one, is concentrated. Through the festival, one can touch the tale of Kumano that has colored the history of Japanese religion.

Access and Information

• Location: Shingu City, Wakayama Prefecture
• Venue: Kumano Hayatama Taisha and the area along the Kumano River
• Dates: October 15 and 16 each year
• Main rites: Sacred horse procession (15th); boat festival and swift boat race (16th)
• Access: Within walking distance from JR Shingu Station on the Kisei Main Line to the venue
• Organizer and inquiries: Kumano Hayatama Taisha

Around the Area

Kumano Hayatama Taisha, the setting of the festival, is one of the shrines of the Kumano Sanzan with beautiful vermilion-lacquered halls, and within its precincts stands a great nagi tree, a natural monument of the nation, quietly telling the history of Kumano faith. Even outside the festival days, as a World Heritage sacred site it receives an unending stream of worshippers from across the country, where one can touch the air of Kumano's deep faith.

Kamikura Shrine, an auxiliary shrine of Kumano Hayatama Taisha, takes as its object of worship a huge rock called Gotobiki-iwa and is enshrined at the top of a steep stone stairway, a sacred site that may be called the very origin of Kumano faith. It is also known for the valiant fire festival, the Oto Matsuri, held every February, and is well worth visiting together with Kumano Hayatama Taisha.

The Kumano region, including Shingu City, is home to many World Heritage attractions, such as the other two shrines of the Kumano Sanzan, Kumano Hongu Taisha and Kumano Nachi Taisha, and the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes. Visiting Kumano in the season of the Kumano Hayatama Festival, one can fully savor the profound world woven by the nature and faith of the sacred land of Kumano, together with the grand rites staged upon the river.

Related Information

• Month: October (autumn)
• Prefecture and region: Shingu City, Wakayama Prefecture, Kii Peninsula (Kumano region)
• Shrine: Kumano Hayatama Taisha (one of the Kumano Sanzan; principal deity Kumano Hayatama no Okami)
• Cultural property designation: The Kumano Hayatama Grand Festival, designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of the nation in 2016
• World Heritage: Kumano Hayatama Taisha is a component of the UNESCO World Heritage Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range

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