Itsukushima Shrine
Local legend states that the festival began when a severe famine broke out during the Kyōhō Era (1716-1736) in the mid-Edo Period. The lord of Yanagawa at that time, Matsudaira Michiharu (later known as Tokugawa Muneharu), gathered the locals and gave them rice seeds that provided a great harvest the following year. The event is a Shinto ritual of Itsukushima Shrine.