Mikuni Matsuri

Overview

Mikuni Matsuri is the spring grand festival of Mikuni Shrine, held in Mikuni-cho, Sakai City, Fukui Prefecture. Counted as one of the Three Great Festivals of the Hokuriku region alongside the Mikurumayama Festival of Takaoka in Toyama and the Seihaku Festival of Nanao in Ishikawa, it is celebrated grandly over three days each year: the grand festival on May 19, the float and portable shrine procession (the middle-day festival) on May 20, and the closing festival on May 21. The highlight is the float procession that winds through the old town on May 20, when huge floats more than six meters tall bearing warrior dolls advance through the historic streets of the port town, captivating many spectators.

Mikuni Port flourished as a hub of the Kitamaebune coastal trade, and the Mikuni Matsuri is a festival in which the townspeople who built that prosperity dedicated float dolls and boat-shaped portable shrines. With some 300 years of history, it centers on the Shinto rites of Mikuni Shrine while grand floats parade through the town, conveying to this day the culture and faith of Mikuni Port. It was designated an intangible folk cultural property of Mikuni-cho, now Sakai City, in 2005, and of Fukui Prefecture the following year in 2006, and is cherished as a leading traditional event of the region.

History and Origins

The exact date when the floats of the Mikuni Matsuri began is not clear, but a record of umbrella-topped standards appears in the Daimon-cho record of 1717, suggesting that a prototype of the festival existed by that time. Around the Horeki era (about 1750), umbrella standards and shouldered stalls appeared, adding to the festival's splendor. Mikuni Shrine officially traces the origin of the festival to 1697, but in any case it had become established as a port-town festival by the middle of the Edo period.

The beginning of decorated float dedication is said to be in 1753, when the town groups of Kiba-cho and Ima-cho pulled out a cherry float called Sakurayama, inspired by the cherry trees of Sakuradani, the shrine's grounds of Mikuni Shrine. In 1757, the town groups of Motoshin-machi and Shimoshin-machi brought out a Musashino umbrella standard, and thereafter took turns bringing out floats every other year. In this way, a custom emerged of each town competing to dedicate floats with its own creative flourishes.

The warrior-doll floats that characterize today's Mikuni Matsuri spread in 1844. According to the Bandai Fueki-roku, when dolls were placed on a shouldered stall that year, it proved so popular that the following year other stalls followed suit. As Mikuni Port prospered through the Kitamaebune trade, the float dolls grew ever more lavish, and at their peak, giant warrior dolls more than ten meters tall competed in craftsmanship.

However, when electric wires were laid through the town in the Meiji era, the giant floats could no longer be pulled as they were, so today their height is restricted and floats of around six meters parade. An annex of the Sakai City Ryusho Museum displays a float bearing a doll more than ten meters tall, used in the late Meiji period, preserving the grand form of the past. In this way, the Mikuni Matsuri is a festival that has been handed down while changing its appearance, reflecting the economic prosperity of the port town and the transformations of the times.

Highlights

Procession of giant floats bearing warrior dolls
The greatest highlight of the Mikuni Matsuri is the float procession held on the middle day, May 20. There are 18 floats in the town, and the 6 (or 7) whose turn it is that year parade through the old Mikuni district. The sight of floats more than six meters tall bearing warrior dolls advancing through the narrow alleys of the port town is overwhelming, creating a magnificent spectacle worthy of the name of a Great Festival of Hokuriku.

Assembly and dedication before Mikuni Shrine
On the middle-day festival of May 20, the floats of the towns on duty assemble before Mikuni Shrine to be dedicated. Afterward, the floats line up before and behind the portable shrine and warrior procession, set out from the shrine, and are pulled by the townspeople through the old streets. The way the Shinto rites and the float procession proceed as one shows that this festival is not merely a float event but a formal Shinto rite centered on offering to the deity.

Float dolls depicting historical heroes
The dolls set atop the floats often depict historical warriors such as Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Sanada Yukimura, Akechi Mitsuhide, and Shibata Katsuie, or famous scenes from kabuki, each made with the creative ingenuity of its town. The exquisite forms crafted by doll makers become a topic of conversation each year, and which town dedicates which subject is one of the pleasures of the festival.

The evening float parade
On the evening of the 19th, the day before the main event, the yoiyama evening float parade takes place. The sight of floats parading around Mikuni Shrine in the dusk is dreamlike, heightening anticipation for the main day. The warrior dolls illuminated in the night port town have a charm quite different from the daytime procession.

Children as musicians
Children board each town's float as musicians, enlivening the festival with drums and flutes. Elementary school children who have practiced for months before the festival show off spirited chants and powerful drumstick handling, embodying the very work of a community passing the festival to the next generation.

Storied float stalls and cultural properties
The stalls that form the base of the floats are themselves worth seeing. Some, including a stall preserving the oldest form made in the Tenpo era and water-hanging curtains adorned with fine carvings and embroidery, are designated tangible cultural properties of Sakai City, offering a chance to appreciate the craft beauty of the stalls as well as the dolls.

Event Information and Access

• Dates: Three days each year, May 19 (grand festival), May 20 (float and portable shrine procession / middle-day festival), and May 21 (closing festival)
• Ritual period: A series of Shinto rites is held from the opening ceremony on May 15 to the closing festival on May 21
• Location: Mikuni Shrine and the old Mikuni district (Mikuni-cho, Sakai City, Fukui Prefecture)
• Organizer: Mikuni Matsuri Preservation and Promotion Association
• Central highlights: The float procession on the 20th and the evening float parade on the 19th
• Access: Get off at Mikuni Station on the Echizen Railway Mikuni Awara Line; the nearest station to Mikuni Shrine is Mikuni Jinja Station

Around the Area

When visiting the Mikuni Matsuri, the scenic Tojinbo cliffs facing the Sea of Japan are close by. The landscape of rugged columnar joints stretching about one kilometer is designated a national natural monument and place of scenic beauty, allowing visitors to enjoy the natural beauty of Mikuni together with the festival.

Mikuni Port strongly retains the atmosphere of a port town that flourished with the Kitamaebune, and lattice-doored townhouses and merchant houses dot the old district. Walking through the port town's streets before or after the festival lets you feel firsthand the culture of the townspeople who nurtured the floats and the history of Mikuni, which grew wealthy through maritime trade.

The Sakai City Ryusho Museum, which displays a float of more than ten meters from the late Meiji period, is an ideal facility for learning more deeply about the history of the Mikuni Matsuri. Seeing the grand floats of the past before watching the festival lets you savor all the more the weight of tradition carried by today's floats.

Related Information

• Month: May (spring)
• Region: Mikuni-cho, Sakai City, Fukui Prefecture
• Shrine: Mikuni Shrine (formerly Sanno-gu, the guardian shrine of Mikuni Port)
• Origin: Established in the middle Edo period; decorated floats began with the Sakurayama of 1753, and warrior dolls spread from 1844
• Standing: One of the Three Great Festivals of Hokuriku, along with the Mikurumayama and Seihaku festivals
• Cultural property: Designated an intangible folk cultural property of Mikuni-cho in 2005 and of Fukui Prefecture in 2006

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