The Shinto ritual of planting rice to pray for a bountiful harvest, the sumo power of the Oyamazumi Shrine, is an intangible folk cultural asset of Ehime Prefecture.
The Onitai Matsuri is a Shinto ritual held before rice planting to pray for a good harvest that year. In Imabari City, the Onitai Matsuri at Oyamazumi Shrine is particularly well-known, and every year on the 5th of the 5th month of the lunar calendar, 16 young women dressed in white robes, red sashes, hand guards and leg guards help plant the rice. The festival is also famous for its one-man sumo offering, in which the participants wrestle with the invisible spirit of the rice, and this one-man sumo has been designated an intangible folk cultural asset of Ehime Prefecture. (This festival is only held for a limited time.)
INFORMATION
- business hours
- May 5th of the lunar calendar every year
- address
- 〒794-13043327 Miyaura, Omishima-cho, Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture