Morioka Autumn Festival (Hachimangū Float Procession)

盛岡秋まつり(盛岡八幡宮の山車行事)

A festival in Morioka, Iwate, held with the grand festival of Morioka Hachimangū, in which floats decorated with figures tour the city from 14 to 16 September. On the 14th the floats escort the shrine’s mikoshi down into the town in the Hachiman-kudari; on the evening of the 15th the floats, lit up with electric lights, parade along Ōdōri in the great picture-scroll parade. The Nanbu festival music and the calls of the Nanbu kiyari work song ring through the old castle town. An Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Iwate Prefecture. 14 to 16 September every year.

14–16 September 2027

RegularWorked out from the organiser’s fixed schedule.

315 days away

Every year, 14 September, for 3 days

Future dates: 14 September 2027 · 14 September 2028 · 14 September 2029

Origin

The Hachimangū festival was the foremost festival of the Morioka domain, held in the castle town of the Nanbu clan with the lord himself as its patron. In 1709 or 1713, floats carrying neighbourhood emblems and decorations from the twenty-three wards of the town began to follow the festival procession, and in the early nineteenth century the festival grew grander and the floats changed from carried to drawn. The groups putting out floats passed from the wards to the town fire brigades founded in 1799, and today they are mainly units of the city’s volunteer fire corps, joined by clubs and neighbourhood associations. The rite was designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property by Morioka in 1985 and later by Iwate Prefecture. Festivals with figure-topped floats across the former Morioka domain show its influence.

What to look for

Floats built on two-wheeled carts, topped with figures chosen afresh each time to show a play or story. On a round base stand a great rock and pine trees, with figures or animals at the front and on the back, the mikaeshi, decorated with rolling waves and flowering trees; at night they are lit up. Each procession is led by tall lanterns, followed by a vanguard with iron staffs, officials and tekomai dancers, and the float is hauled by its crew at the signal of the clapper man. Drums on the float, flutes and gongs play the Nanbu festival music, and the Nanbu kiyari is called out, a cry of “iyā iyā ē” answered by “yāre, korya nosē”. Seven to nine floats are usually offered each year.

How to watch

Floats are put out by units of the fire corps and neighbourhood groups; the I-gumi at the shrine gate and a few others take part almost every year, the rest every two to four years. In a year they take part, a group opens a meeting house and builds a float shed nearby, the kakesu, where its members make the figures’ bodies, costumes, props, flowers and waves themselves. The small drums are played by older primary-school children, the big drums by young men and women.

If you go

The floats run from 14 to 16 September, from Morioka Hachimangū through the whole city. The Hachiman-kudari leaves the front of the shrine at 1 p.m. on the 14th, and the great picture-scroll parade moves along the Ōdōri shopping street from 6 p.m. on the 15th. On the 16th there is horseback archery, yabusame, at the riding ground of the shrine. Roads on the parade routes are closed to traffic for set hours.

Where

Morioka Hachimangū and central Morioka

Morioka, Iwate

Open in maps

Sources

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