Onbashira

Overview

The Onbashira Festival (御柱祭, Onbashira-sai), formally known as the Shikinen Zoei Mihashira Taisai, is the largest sacred rite of Suwa Taisha (Suwa Grand Shrine) in the Suwa region of Nagano Prefecture. Held once every seven years by the traditional count, in the years of the Tiger and the Monkey, it is designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property by Nagano Prefecture. During the festival, sixteen giant fir (momi) trees are cut from the mountains and hauled by hand by the shrine parishioners to the four shrine precincts, where they are raised at the four corners of each shrine building to serve as sacred pillars.

The festival is famous for its wild and dangerous highlights: the kiotoshi (log-dropping), in which pillars are sent sliding down a steep slope with men riding on them, and the kawagoshi (river-crossing), in which the logs are hauled across a cold river. Because of this ferocity, Onbashira is counted among the Three Great Eccentric Festivals of Japan and is also known as the great festival held only once in seven years. Four pillars each are raised at the four shrines of Suwa Taisha, the Kamisha Honmiya and Maemiya (Upper Shrine) and the Shimosha Harumiya and Akimiya (Lower Shrine), for a total of sixteen pillars. During the festival period the entire Suwa region comes alive, and some local companies even set special holidays to coincide with it, a sign of how deeply the event is rooted in this land.

History and Origins

There are few documents that clearly record when the Onbashira Festival began, and its exact origin remains uncertain. The Suwa Daimyojin Ekotoba, compiled in the Muromachi period in 1356, states that construction of the shrine took place in the years of the Tiger and the Monkey and that this began in the reign of Emperor Kanmu. This suggests that the building of Suwa Shrine was already being carried out in the time of Emperor Kanmu (reigned 781 to 806) in the early Heian period. From this, the history of the festival is said to reach back more than 1,200 years.

There are various theories about why the festival is held every seven years. According to the thinking of divination studies, the Tiger corresponds to the first month and the Monkey to the seventh month of the lunar calendar, marking the beginnings of spring and autumn. Furthermore, the characters for Tiger and Monkey carry meanings of movement and stirring, associated with the sprouting of plants and the ripening of crops, and it is said that ancient people who valued the calendar therefore set the festival at seven-year intervals. To be precise, the interval is a full six years, but by custom it is expressed as once every seven years, counting the seventh year in the traditional Japanese manner.

There are also said to be more than twenty theories about what the act of raising the pillars represents. These include the idea that the four pillars are raised in place of rebuilding a grand shrine hall, following an ancient custom; the idea that the pillars mark the boundary of the sacred precinct; and the idea that they serve as a yorishiro, a vessel into which the deity descends. No single explanation has ever been settled upon.

In the Kamakura period, Suwa Shrine became the political and military center of Shinano Province, and records show that service toward the periodic reconstruction extended across the whole of Shinano. In the Edo period, under the rule of the Suwa domain, the form close to the present day was established, in which the pillars were hauled by the domain residents themselves. When Suwa District was formed in the Meiji era, the framework of the districts responsible for each pillar was set, and it has been handed down to the present.

Highlights

Sixteen Giant Pillars　The fir trees used for the pillars are about 200 years old, roughly 19 meters long, about 1 meter in diameter, and weigh around 7.5 tons. Raising these giants, four each at the four shrines of the Upper and Lower Shrine, for a total of sixteen, forms the backbone of the festival.

The Kiotoshi Log-Drop　The greatest spectacle of the yamadashi (mountain-hauling) in April is the kiotoshi. The log-drop slope of the Lower Shrine in particular has an incline of about 35 degrees and a length of around 100 meters, and the sight of parishioners riding the pillar as it plunges down the slope in one go is overwhelming. It is celebrated in an old saying: if you would see men, go to the Suwa log-drop, once every seven years.

The Kawagoshi River-Crossing　In the Upper Shrine yamadashi, the kawagoshi is performed, in which the pillar is purified with cold river water as it is hauled to the far bank. The fervor of the parishioners plunging into the cold water and the flying spray color the early spring of the Suwa road.

The Colorful Satobiki and Raising of the Pillars　The satobiki (village-hauling) in May brings the pillars to each shrine accompanied by splendid processions of horsemen, nagamochi chests, and kasa-odori hat dancing. Upon reaching the shrine, the pillar undergoes the kanmuri-otoshi, in which its tip is cut into a triangular cone, and is then raised vertically at a corner of the shrine building with parishioners still riding upon it. This tateonbashira, the raising of the pillar, is the climax of the festival.

The Sound of Kiyari and Bugles　The hauling of the pillars proceeds to the distinctive melody of the kiyari work songs and the rhythm of bugles. The sight of 1,000 to 3,000 parishioners hauling a single pillar together reflects the very unity of the community.

Event Information and Access

Timing　Once every seven years by the traditional count, in the years of the Tiger and Monkey, in April (yamadashi) and May (satobiki). The Lower Shrine events take place about one week after the Upper Shrine. The next festival is scheduled for the year 2028.

Venue　The Upper Shrine Honmiya and Maemiya (Suwa City and Chino City, Nagano) and the Lower Shrine Harumiya and Akimiya (Shimosuwa Town), together with the hauling routes of the yamadashi and satobiki.

Main Rites　Yamadashi (kiotoshi and kawagoshi), satobiki (tateonbashira, the raising of the pillars), and the hoden senza-sai enshrinement rite.

Scale of the Pillars　Sixteen giant fir trees, each about 19 meters long, 1 meter in diameter, and 7.5 tons in weight.

Haulers　Between 1,000 and 3,000 parishioners per pillar. The parishioners number about 110,000 on the Upper Shrine side and about 86,000 on the Lower Shrine side.

Access　Suwa Taisha is reached from Kamisuwa, Shimosuwa, and Chino stations on the JR Chuo Main Line. During the festival, traffic is restricted around the hauling routes, so visitors are advised to use public transportation and follow local guidance when viewing.

Surrounding Area

The Suwa region, where the Onbashira Festival takes place, spreads across a basin surrounding Lake Suwa, one of Japan's largest fault lakes, in roughly the center of Nagano Prefecture. It consists of Suwa City, Okaya City, Chino City, Shimosuwa Town, Fujimi Town, and Hara Village, and has long prospered as the shrine town of Suwa Taisha and as a key junction where the Koshu Kaido and Nakasendo highways met.

Suwa Taisha is the head shrine of the roughly 10,000 Suwa shrines found throughout Japan, with its Upper Shrine and Lower Shrine facing each other across Lake Suwa. Even outside the festival year, visitors can see the pillars standing at the four corners up close and can experience the history of Suwa worship.

The surrounding area offers many attractions, including hot springs and a geyser along Lake Suwa and Tateishi Park overlooking the lake, while Shimosuwa is also known as the finest hot-spring post town on the Nakasendo. Combining a visit to the festival with the nature, hot springs, and sake breweries of Suwa allows one to savor more deeply the culture of faith and daily life that lives on in this land.

Related Information

• Name: Onbashira Festival (Shikinen Zoei Mihashira Taisai)
• Location: Suwa region, Nagano Prefecture (Suwa Taisha Upper Shrine Honmiya and Maemiya / Lower Shrine Harumiya and Akimiya)
• Timing: Once every seven years by the traditional count (years of the Tiger and Monkey), in April (yamadashi) and May (satobiki). Next held in 2028
• Origin: Said to predate the Heian period (over 1,200 years of history; earliest record in the Suwa Daimyojin Ekotoba of 1356)
• Character: The largest rite of Suwa Taisha; Nagano Prefecture Intangible Folk Cultural Property; one of the Three Great Eccentric Festivals of Japan
• Pillars: Sixteen giant fir trees (about 19m long, 1m in diameter, 7.5 tons)
• Main Rites: Kiotoshi, kawagoshi, tateonbashira, and the hoden enshrinement rite

← Explore More Festivals