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EVENT SCHEDULE
April / 9 Tue - 17 Wed

NAGAHAMAHIKIYAMA FESTIVAL

DATE Nagahama Hikiyama Festival: From Tue., April 9th, 2019 to Wed., April 17th, 2019Children’s kabuki: From Sat., April 13th, 2019 to Tue., April 16th, 2019
TIME Children’s kabuki: 13th (Sat.) from evening onwards, 14th (Sun.) in the morning, 15th (Mon.)and 16th (Tue.) all day.
*Time will be decided in the kujitori-shiki (ceremony to determine the order of floats) on the 13th
PLACE Nagahama Town (Otemon-dori) area, NAGAHAMA-HACHIMANGU Shrine
ADMISSION FreeTEL 0749-65-3300（Hikiyama Museum）
WEB http://www.nagahama-hikiyama.or.jp/foreign/eng.html
ENGLISH BROCHURE

The theme is connecting
mountain and lake, giving prayer
to the water. In addition to
HIEIZAN ENRYAKU-JI Temple’s
standard classical events, suchas ogomaku ceremony, okaji
prayer, and fukumochimaki(throwing mochi rice cakes), in the Omatsuzaki area, you
should be sure to see the procession of yamabushi andsoryo priests, and other attractions of this lakeside temple.
DATE Tue., March 26th, 2019
TIME 10am-12:40pm*Cancelled in case of heavy rain. Course and other details may be subject tochange depending on the weather or other factors.
PLACE Omatsuzaki (Omi-Maiko) area, Otsu, Shiga
ADMISSION Free (Gomagi homa stick and charms will be sold)
TEL 090-4037-4944 (Eastern bank)
WEB http://www.hira-hakkou.net

KAIZU FESTIVAL (KAIZU RIKISHI FESTIVAL)

A regularly held spring festival of
the KAIZUTEN-JINJA Shrine inwhich youngsters wearing brightly
colored kesho mawashi (a decorative
belt and apron) carry the mikoshi
portable shrine. Kesho mawashi
Biwako Visitors Bureau Public Interest
Incorporated Association
are normally reserved for highranking sumo-wrestlers, hence this festival is also called “Kaizu
Rikishi Festival,” with rikishi being the word for wrestler. Illuminatedby torches at night, the mikoshi is carried through the streets in aparade called Oneri, drawing great crowds of spectators.
DATE Mon., April 29th, 2019
TIME 1pm-8pm
PLACE KAIZUTEN-JINJA Shrine (1253 Kaizu, Makino-cho, Takashima, Shiga)
ADMISSION FreeTEL 0740-28-0051 (KAIZUTEN-JINJA Shrine)May

April / 12 Fri - 15 Mon

This festival is held every year in April, along with the grand festival at
NAGAHAMA-HACHIMANGU Shrine. This year the following four floats will
be parading: Tokiwazan, Kujakuzan, Okinazan, and Banzairou. On the stageof hikiyama floats, a children’s kabuki plays will be performed by boys,
consisting of a 40 minutes musical program with a theme unique toNagahama. The shagiri, musical accompaniment of Japanese flutes andcymbals in kabuki, is also not to be missed.

HIRAHAKKO

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vol. 3

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SANNO FESTIVAL

HIYOSHI-TAISHA Shrine is the head of morethan 3,800 HIE-JINJA and HIYOSHI-JINJA
Shrines in Japan, and the annual festival isregistered as an intangible cultural heritageof Otsu city. The bold and florid events thattake place in the festival are a must-see.
Uma no Jinji (Festival of the horse day) is a
Biwako Visitors Bureau Public Interest
Incorporated Association
festival in which 2 mikoshi (portable shrines)
are carried into the Higashi Hongu (eastern main shrine). In Yomiya Otoshi,
the mikoshi is shaken vigorously, and in Mikoshi Togyo parade, 7 mikoshi are
moved towards Lake Biwa.

N AG AHAM A HIK I YAM A FES T I VA L

DATE Fri., April 12th, 2019 to Mon., April 15th, 2019
TIME 12th (Fri.) from 6:30pm, 13th (Sat.) from 1pm, 14th (Sun.) and 15th (Mon.) from 10am
PLACE Sanno Sohongu HIYOSHI-TAISHA Shrine (5-1-1 Sakamoto, Otsu, Shiga)
ADMISSION Entrance and viewing on April 13th and 14th is free.
TEL 077-578-0009 (HIYOSHI-TAISHA Shrine) WEB http://hiyoshitaisha.jp/event/sannou

HACHIMAN FESTIVAL

The yoimiya festival (eve of thefestival) features more than 30
blazing torches and a wonderfulfireworks display to light up thespring night sky. And in the main
festival, giant taiko drums,
Biwako Visitors Bureau Public Interest
relocated from each village to the
Incorporated Association
HIMURE-HACHIMANGU Shrine, are carried through the town.
Each village has its own style of playing the drum, passed down
through the generations and hearing how each of them differs
is one of the pleasures of this more than 1000 years old festival.
DATE Sun., April 14th, 2019 and Mon., 15th
TIME 14th (Sun.) from 7pm, 15th (Mon.) from 10am
PLACE HIMURE-HACHIMANGU Shrine (257 Miyauchi-cho, Omihachiman, Shiga)
ADMISSION FreeTEL 0748-33-6061 (Omihachiman Station North Exit Tourist Information)
WEB https://www.omi8.com/maturi/hachiman.htm

KENKETO FESTIVAL

Oda Nobunaga fought in
Minakuchi, and the local people
fought at his side. It is said thatthe performers’ costume in thisfestival comes from the outfit of
the locals after they removed
their armor. The participants dress in vibrant Yuzen Moyo(dyed silk) kimonos (representing the clothing of the local
people) and dance with long naginata halberds.
The name, Kenketo, comes from the chant that accompanies
the dancing.
DATE Fri., May 3rd, 2019
TIME From 2:40pm
PLACE SUGINOKI-JINJA Shrine (3560 Yamanoue, Ryuo-cho, Shiga)
ADMISSION FreeTEL 0748-58-3715 (Ryuo-cho Tourist Information)
WEB https://ryuoh.org/gyoji-matsuri/kenketo-matsuri/

A Festival with 450 Years of Histor y

NIHONSHU

KOREI TAISAI (TAGA FESTIVAL)

An important annual event of the
TAGA-TAISHA Shrine that evenfeatures in historical records fromthe Kamakura period (1185-1333).
The proceedings are led by abatonin—influential figures fromthe local communities mounted
on horseback. Behind lines of
Biwako Visitors Bureau Public Interest
Incorporated Association
mikoshi portable shrines, horen
carriages, and batonin, around 400 people and another 40
horses proceeding in a watarishinji is a spectacle to be seen.

Quality Sakefrom Nature’s Bounty

S A K AM A I − RICE F OR S A K E
The Cultivation of 6 Types of
Per fect Rice Blessed by Quality
Underground Water Sources

L OCA L CUISINE / E VEN T

DATE Mon., April 22nd, 2019
TIME 8:30am-5pm
PLACE TAGA-TAISHA Shrine (604 Taga, Taga-cho, Inukami-gun, Shiga)
ADMISSION FreeTEL 0749-48-1553 (Taga Sightseeing Association)
WEB http://www.tagataisya.or.jp/

OOMIZO FESTIVAL’S 400TH ANNIVERSARY

A traditional spring festival of the
HIYOSHI-JINJA Shrine in which 5
festival floats featuring taiko
drums and cymbals are paradedthrough the streets. The sight of
the floats, embellished withdecorative curtains and further
adorned with lanterns, being
drawn through the streets mightjust take your breath away.

DATE Fri., May 3rd, 2019 and Sat., 4th
TIME Fri., May 3rd from 6pm, Sat., May 4th from 10am
PLACE HIYOSHI-JINJA Shrine (2166 Katsuno, Takashima, Shiga)
ADMISSION FreeTEL 0740-33-7101 (Biwako Takashima Tourist Association)
WEB https://oomizomatsuri.jp/english.html

ABOUT SHIGAFUKUIAs Shiga prefecture is located in almost the exact center of Japan, and blessed with thelargest lake, Lake Biwa, there are plenty of places to see and things to do. Visiting thetemples and shrines, the old Kaido road, and the historical buildings and streetscapes
gives you a chance to get a taste for the varied culture of Shiga. And the culturallandscape and food culture created from the harmony between the plentiful water resources
and lifestyle of the people are sure to impress any visitor. Let’s discover Shiga together.

GIFU

Lake
Biwa

AICHI

ACCESS to SHIGA
Approx.

BIWAICHI is cycling around Lake Biwa. For those wishing to experience evenmore of Lake Biwa, we recommend the cycling and cruise package.
On the Hikone to Makino route operated by Ohmi Marine, the ferries have a
special rack so you can hop on board and store your cycle with ease.
The ferry also stops by Chikubu Island, so you can enjoy first-handthe mysteries this ancient and sacred island has to offer.
*Not all ferries have cycle storage. Reservation required.

OHMI MARINE

BIWAICHI

Approx. 193km

KINOMOTO

MAKINONAGAHAMATAKASHIMA

HIKONEKATATAOMIHACHIMANOTSUBIWAKO OHASHI Brg

WEB http://www.ohmitetudo.co.jp/marine/OSAKA

KANSAI INTL AIRPORT

MIE

Approx.

100min.

JR KANSAI AIRPORT Sta.

http://www.pref.shiga.lg.jp

BIWAKO VISITORSBUREAUBIWAICHIRENTAL CYCLE

https://en.biwako-visitors.jp

http://biwaichi-cycling.com/en/

JR OTSU Sta.

JR KYOTO Sta.
Approx.

Approx.

150min.

JR TOKYO Sta.

OMI MAI RICE

Blessed with clear waters and fertile earth

BEST SHOT!!

PUBLISHING : Shiga Prefecture / 2019.3

JR OTSU Sta.

NARA

BIWAICHI - C y c l i n g a r o u n d L a k e B i w a -TEL 0749-22-0619

100min.

SHIGA

KYOTO

Shiga is Japan’s leading rice-production region, thanks to the abundance water from
Lake Biwa (Japan’s largest lake) and the surrounding mountains, and the nutrient-rich, fertile soil.
Shiga also strives for quality improvement and environmental conservation through reduced pesticide
and organic farming, with the catchphrase, “Eat Eco Shiga” (By eating food cultivated in anenvironmentally friendly way, you protect Lake Biwa.) Among the varieties of rice, the brandmizukagami stands out as an original of Shiga prefecture. With its characteristic
moderate stickiness and mellow sweetness, it is in receipt of high praise from across Japan.

9min.

NAGAHAMAHIKIYAMAFESTIVALNIHONSHU
Quality Sakefrom Nature’s Bounty

A F E S T I VA L W I TH 450 Y E A RS OF HIS T OR Y

酒
Since time immemorial, Nihonshu (Japanese sake), has been used byshrines and temples during their ceremonies and festivals. This has led toa deep connection between the people and culture of Japan, and nihonshu.
In Shiga prefecture, which is important for its interaction between waterand land thanks to Lake Biwa, there are many sake breweries near thelakeside towns, and inns along the Tokai-do and Nakasen-do roads.
Within the prefecture, there are over 30 breweries, and those with histories
spanning back 100 to 300 years are easily found. The main ingredients ofnihonshu are water and rice. There is a Japanese saying, “Where there isgood water, there is good sake” and Shiga is no exception — with its purewater, and soil perfect for growing delicious rice. It is blessed witheverything it needs to make delicious, top-quality nihonshu. Taking
Japan’s largest and oldest lake, Lake Biwa, as the center, to the east are
the Ibuki and Suzuka mountain ranges and to the west are the Hira andHiei mountain ranges — all surrounding the Shiga basin. It is home to agreat many breweries that take their water from underground run-off fromthe various mountains. Another reason for the popularity of sake brewing
in Shiga is the abundance of good quality rice required for the productionof delicious sake. Within Shiga, 6 varieties of rice for sake production are
cultivated. Being able to take advantage of their individual characteristics
to create sake of varying flavors and tastes is yet another feature of Shiga’s
sake. Each brewery is working tirelessly in pursuit of nihonshu that
perfectly highlights the depth of flavor of their brand.

Biwako Visitors Bureau Public Interest
Incorporated Association

Traditional Japanese Arts
and Crafts Survive in Nagahama
The prefecture of Shiga has many ancient festivals, but the Nagahama
Hikiyama Festival is one of the oldest and biggest. It is held each year in April
to coincide with the spring festival at NAGAHAMA-HACHIMANGU Shrine,
home to the guardian dieties of Nagahama. Numerous similar festivals
featuring a procession of floats parading through the town are held all overJapan, of which 33, including the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival, wereregistered in 2016 as a UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage, under thedesignation “Yama, Hoko, Yatai float festivals in Japan.” Together with theGion Festival of Kyoto and the Takayama Festival of Gifu, the Nagahama
Hikiyama Festival is known as one of “Japan’s big three float festivals.” Itshikiyama floats are a “moving museum” showcasing ornamental metal work,

sculpture, and other traditional Japanese crafts, and stages for performancesof kabuki plays by children aged 5 to 12 are the highlight of the festival. There
are 13 hikiyama floats of distinctive shapes and decorative style, most of themdating back to the mid Edo period (1700s). They have been preserved fromgeneration to generation, their decorative elements remade and repaired.
All the floats except the Naginatayama float (i.e., 12 out of 13 floats) have theirstage at the front. Year by year, four of these are paraded in turn, with theboys of each float team dedicating their kabuki performances to the gods.
The magnificence of the floats and the kabuki performances have attracted
large numbers of spectators through the ages.

A Festival Lovingly Preservedby the People of Nagahama
The Nagahama Hikiyama Festival originated some 450 years ago. After
Hashiba Hideyoshi (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi) was granted rulership of
the province surrounding Nagahama by Oda Nobunaga, he constructed
NAGAHAMA-JO Castle. At the same time, Hideyoshi developed the townof Nagahama and restored the NAGAHAMA-HACHIMANGU Shrine, which
had been destroyed by war. To mark the occasion, Hideyoshi held afestival featuring a procession of warriors, in imitation of the triumphantreturn from war of Minamoto no Yoshiie, a famous military commander ofthe late Heian period (1039-1106). At least this is one explanation of thefestival’s origin. The procession has been passed down to the current
festival in the form of warriors and sumo-wrestlers called a tachiwatari.
According to another theory of the event’s origin, the first floats werecreated using gold dust gifted to the townsfolk by Hideyoshi out of joy on
the birth of his first son. This explanation has little historical credibility,
however. It may be little more than a rumor spread amongst the people of
Nagahama out of their affection for Hideyoshi, due to his favorable
treatment of craftsmen—he exempted them from various duties and frompaying annual tribute.

祭
It is unclear when exactly the current hikiyama floats and kabuki
performances by children were incorporated into the festival. But it issaid that some towns began to create hikiyama floats in 1700s, and withregard to children’s kabuki plays, a performance script from 1742 andwritten records from as early as 1769 show that, at that time, floats werebeing built in different towns and that children were performing kabuki plays
on float-mounted stages. The idea of children’s kabuki plays were
presumably inspired by kabuki performed by adults and joruri puppet
theater arts that flourished widely at the time. There are several otherfestivals in Japan featuring kabuki performed on stages atop hikiyama
floats, but the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival is undoubtedly the earliest
festival of this type. The oldest historical record of the 13 floats is amention of repairs on the Takasagozan float from 1745, proving that work
was done to decorate and improve floats after their initial construction.
Nagahama, which evolved first as a castle town, long flourished as arelay station on the northern highway and an important port for laketransport, and it continued to enjoy its exemption from annual tributeright up until the Meiji Restoration. The wealth of the townspeople and米S A K A M A I

their refined esthetic sensibilities are evident in the sumptuousness of
festival floats. The skilled craftsmen who worked on the town’s distinctive
Buddhist altars, called Nagahama Butsudan, and Shinto shrines, such as
the sculptor Fujioka Izumi of the early Edo period (1600s), contributed
greatly to the construction and development of hikiyama floats.
While the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival has been registered as anintangible cultural asset by UNESCO, the hikiyama floats have also been
designated as a tangible folk cultural property by the prefecture of Shiga.
To this day, the floats are preserved and restored by a host of traditional
craftsmen, including carpenters and sculptors who specialize in temples
and shrines, lacquer painters, and the metal carvers who create theornamental elements. The Nagahama Hikiyama Museum gives visitors aclose-up look at the floats being readied for the next festival. There iseven a booth for observing the repair and restoration work in progress.

Nagahama Hikiyama Museum

TEL 0749-65-3300
ADDRESS 14-8 Motohama-cho, Nagahama, Shiga
OPEN 9am-5pm (Last entry 4:30pm)
CLOSED Dec.29-Jan.3 *May be closed on other days, e.g., when changing exhibitions.
ADMISSION Adults ¥600 (¥480) Children ¥300 (¥240) *Prices in brackets are for groups of 20 or more.
SMOKING No
WEB http://www.nagahama-hikiyama.or.jp/foreign/eng.html
ENGLISH BROCHURE– RICE FOR SAKEThe Cultivation of 6 Types of
Perfect Rice Blessed by Quality
Underground Water Sources

BREWERIESOPEN FOR TOURS
Check out Your
Favorite Breweries!

Hadaka-mairi (“naked shrine visit”)

NAGAHAMA-HACHIMANGU Shrine

Kujitori-shiki (lot drawing ceremony)Children’s kabuki play

The rice and water used, the climate of the region, and methods of preparation, etc.,
each brewery has its own characteristics. In addition to trying freshly made nihonshu
on brewery tours, you can also taste limited edition brands and purchase originalitems in some breweries. Take the trip out to your favorite brewery — of the 14 in
Shiga that hold tours, see below for 6 that offer English guidance.
1 Fujiihonke

4 The OMI Sake Brewery Co., Ltd.

2 Fujimoto Brewery Co., Ltd.

5 Tomita Shuzo Inc.

3 Kawashima Sake Brewery, Ltd.

6 Yoshida Shuzo*For locations of the breweries in Shiga prefecture, scan the QR code on the reverse.

The rice that was developed for making sake is known as shuzo kotekimai (ideal
rice for brewing). It features larger-sized grains than the regular rice you eat, andthose considered of even better quality are softer when steamed and the center
is a milky white known as shinpaku.
Blessed with quality underground water
sources, Shiga is home to 6 cultivations ofwine rice: the legendary Shiga
Wataribune No. 6 (which was saved fromnear extinction), Shiga-original Gin Fubuki,
and Tamasakae, Nipponbare, Yamada
Nishiki, and Miyama Nishiki, which are
popular nationwide. At the hands ofskilled brewers, using techniques passed
down through the generations, they arepolished and processed into various
delicious nihonshu.

3rd

OMI NO SHINSHUKIKIZ AK EK AI( TA S T I N G E V E N T )@ Lake Biwa Otsu Prince Hotel
2F Convention Hall “Oumi”

Thu., March 21st, 2019

Reception for alcohol, food and drink vendors from12:30pm, opens 1pm to 2:30pm

Reception for members of the public from
2pm, opens 2:30pm to 5pm

A gathering of 33 of members of Shiga Pref. Sake Brewers’ Association willattend. Come and taste more than 300 kinds of sake freshly prepared last fall.
You can even buy and take home anything that takes your fancy! And taste thecrystal clear waters that each brewery uses in a special event!

Shiga Pref. Sake Brewers’ Association
Shiga sake is gaining more andmore attention each year. See here
for information on Shiga
prefecture’s sake breweries.
only JapaneseJapan Sake and Shochu Makers
Association
First, just learn about nihonshu
and enjoy yourself! See here forbasic information about sake.