Central Japan · Ishikawa · Nanao

Seihakusai Festival (Dekayama)

青柏祭(でか山)

The spring festival of Otokonushi Shrine, also called Sannō Shrine, in Nanao, Ishikawa. Three dekayama, “giant floats” some 12 metres tall and 20 tonnes in weight, the largest in Japan, are hauled through the narrow streets topped with life-size figures from famous Kabuki scenes. Held every year from 3 to 5 May.

3–5 May 2027

183 days away

Every year, 3 May, for 3 days

Future dates: 3 May 2027 · 3 May 2028 · 3 May 2029

Origin

The festival is said to have been made the provincial festival of Noto in 981 by the governor of the province, Minamoto no Shitagō. Hatakeyama Yoshimune, third lord of the Noto Hatakeyama clan and keen to bring Kyoto culture to his domain, offered a float in 1473 modelled on those of Kyoto’s Gion festival, and this is held to be the beginning of the dekayama. For a time in the Edo period the floats are said to have reached 18 metres. The float rite was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1983, and in 2016 it was inscribed on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list as one of the yama, hoko, yatai float festivals.

What to look for

At narrow street corners, a 20-tonne float is swung round in the tsujimawashi. Young men swarm onto an 8-metre lever to lift the float’s front wheels, slip a turning wheel underneath, and swing it round the corner to rousing calls. The three floats, from Kajimachi, Fuchūmachi and Uomachi, open out like a fan when seen from the side; on each stage a scene from an old play, chosen afresh by the neighbourhood every year, is set out with life-size figures, and somewhere among them stands a young pine to receive the gods. The floats set out from the night of the 3rd, gather at Otokonushi Shrine on the 4th and in front of Nanao Station and elsewhere on the 5th. On the evening before, 2 May, comes ningyō-mi, when the figures for the floats are put on show in houses around the town.

How to watch

The dekayama are hauled on thick ropes to festival chants and music, at times reaching running speed through the narrow streets, and visitors can take a rope and pull alongside the locals. The floats go out in rain too: in 2026 they set off on the night of the 3rd in heavy rain. The three floats move about the town from the night of the 3rd to the night of the 5th, some of it through the night, so check the places and times of their gatherings in the schedule that Nanao City and the preservation society publish each year. The ningyō-mi figures are shown in people’s homes, and you are visiting as a guest.

If you go

If you go, catch the gathering of the three floats at Otokonushi Shrine on 4 May or in front of Nanao Station on 5 May. Everything is within walking distance of Nanao Station on the JR Nanao Line, with the shrine to the east of the station. Free temporary car parks and shuttle buses are provided on the 4th and 5th. Check the floats’ locations, parking and road closures in the information published by Nanao City and the Seihakusai Dekayama Preservation Society.

Where

Otokonushi (Sannō) Shrine and central Nanao

Nanao, Ishikawa

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Sources

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