Suga Shrine Taisai

Overview

The Suga Shrine Taisai is a festival of Suga Shrine held in Kashiyama-cho, Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture. Also called the "Kashiyama Float Festival," its four festival floats and festival music are designated intangible folk cultural properties of Okazaki City (former Nukata Town). It is now held on the second Sunday of April each year.

History and Origins

According to oral tradition the festival originates in the Edo period, and an 1875 record, the "Sairei-ki," describes its appearance at that time. Originally held as a Gion festival in the sixth lunar month, it moved to April 14 from the late Meiji era and in recent years is held on the second Sunday of April.

There was once no storehouse for the floats, which were dismantled and kept on the stage of Suga Shrine; but a fire in 1893 burned the stage and reduced all the floats to ashes. The four floats of today were newly built or purchased from elsewhere after 1895. The parishioners form six groups, with two groups—"Hara" and "Miyakita-ichi," "Kawase" and "Naka," "Shono" and "Nyuno"—serving as the year's stewards every three years. In 1982 the festival floats and music were designated intangible folk cultural properties.

Highlights

The highlight is the four distinctive floats. The "Ryujin float" (Hara group) bears carvings of Tenaga and Ashinaga on the two pillars of its front section. The "Hoo float" (Shono group) was purchased in 1909 from a float used at the Nomi Shinmeigu Grand Festival. The "Ebisu float" (Naka group) is a gorgeous work with gold leaf on its gable board and mother-of-pearl inlay around the door and lower carvings. The "Irifune float" (Nyuno group) was built in boat form in the Meiji era using a lower section that escaped the fire, and was later rebuilt. In addition, the "Hana-gumi" of Kawase and Miyakita-ichi join with a charaboko float decorated with cherry-blossom artificial flowers. The day begins with raising banners in the morning, after which the floats, sacred implements, and portable shrine proceed in a line; at the turnaround point of Shinmeigu, the steward groups perform festival music in a rite called "Goshoran," and after the miyairi the festival concludes with signal fireworks and a mochi-throwing.

Event Information & Access

It is held on the second Sunday of April each year. The venue is Suga Shrine in Kashiyama-cho, Okazaki City, and the area around Shinmeigu, the turnaround point. Located in a mountain village of the Nukata district east of central Okazaki, access is mainly by car.

Around the Venue

The Nukata district, where Kashiyama-cho lies, is a nature-rich mountain village in eastern Okazaki, an area that still preserves the historical character of mountain-village life. Central Okazaki is home to Okazaki Castle associated with Tokugawa Ieyasu and is known as a producer of Hatcho miso. One can tour the history of the castle town of Okazaki together with the traditional events of the Nukata countryside.

Related Information

• Month: Second Sunday of April (spring)
• Prefecture: Aichi (Chubu)
• Venue: Suga Shrine (Kashiyama-cho, Okazaki City) and around Shinmeigu
• Origin: Edo period (Gion festival in the 6th lunar month, moved to April in late Meiji)
• Cultural property: Four festival floats and festival music (Okazaki City intangible folk cultural property, designated 1982)

Visitor Information

• Date and Season: Ordinarily the second Sunday of April. A second festival is also held on the second Sunday of October.
• Venue: Suga Shrine (84 Miyamae, Kashiyama-cho, Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture) and the area around Shinmei Shrine, the turning point of the procession
• Access: From Motojuku Station on the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line, transfer to a Meitetsu bus and alight at the Kashiyama stop, about 3 minutes on foot. By car it is about 5 minutes from the Okazaki-higashi interchange of the Shin-Tomei Expressway.
• Admission: Free. The procession is watched from the roadside, and no paid seating is announced.
• Inquiries: Okazaki City Tourism Association, tel. 0564-64-1637 (9:00 to 17:00, closed over the New Year period)
• Parking: The Aichi float festival portal states that no parking is available at Suga Shrine.

The day begins with a ceremony at Suga Shrine. The floats and the portable shrine then set out, pausing at street corners along the way for displays, reach Shinmei Shrine where music is performed, and finally return to Suga Shrine. The whole sequence runs roughly from ten in the morning until six in the evening, but the timetable and the route vary from year to year, and in spring the float procession may be cancelled in wet weather. Visitors should check announcements from the City of Okazaki or the Okazaki City Tourism Association before setting out.

Four Floats and Six Neighborhood Groups

The festival is carried out by six groups of parishioners, four of which own floats: Niino, Hara, Naka and Shono. The Irifune float belongs to Niino, the Ryujin or dragon-deity float to Hara, the Ebisu float to Naka, and the Ho-o or phoenix float to Shono. The two remaining groups, Kawase and Miyakitaichi, take part together as the flower group with a flower cart, known locally as the charaboko after the sound of its music. The cultural property notes of the City of Okazaki likewise record four floats, with the Kawase and Miyakitaichi groups joining as the flower group. The music is played on top of the floats, and each group has developed its own way of handing the repertoire down. The role of the year's host rotates among the groups in pairs on a three-year cycle, so that all six take their turn at the centre of the festival.

A Festival That Travels from Shrine to Shrine

The purpose of the rite is said to be a visit by the deity of Suga Shrine to the deity of Shinmei Shrine, in the same district, accompanied by floats and music. The floats of each group are drawn along with the procession of the portable shrine, and at Shinmei Shrine, the turning point, the host group offers its music as a performance known as goshoran. On the return, as the procession enters the shrine precincts, the floats are hauled in one rush up the slope in front of Suga Shrine to the sound of the music. Four floats and a flower cart moving against the backdrop of the Nukata hills give the festival its particular character. The Aichi float festival portal describes the Suga Shrine rite as one that has been carried out since the end of the Edo period.

Cultural Property Status

The floats and their music were designated an intangible folk cultural property of the City of Okazaki on 8 January 1982, under the name "Suga Shrine Festival Floats and Festival Music." The designated holder is the preservation society of the same name; the location is given as Suga Shrine and other sites in Miyamae, Kashiyama-cho, Okazaki, and the period is recorded as Edo. The city cites two reference works: the folklore volume of the Nukata materials in the new compilation of the history of Okazaki, published by its editorial committee in 1988, and the illustrated guide to the floats of Aichi published by the prefectural float festival council in 2016. The city also notes that the description of a cultural property may change as new findings emerge or further surveys are carried out. Kashiyama-cho belonged to the town of Nukata in Nukata County until the municipal mergers of the Heisei era, and the designation dates from that period.

← Explore More Festivals