Ceremonies & Events

Main Events

Portable Shrine Gathering

Children carrying their neighborhood shrines meet in front of Akita Bank to sing and perform. The event includes a water fight and mochi thrown to the crowd.

Gathering of the Floats

All of the large festival floats converge in Onaricho 2 Chome in a brilliant display light and sound. During the opening ceremony, a flute signals the start of the festivities and kicks-off the celebrations.

Tanosaka Hill Climb

The climax of the first day of the festival! Neighborhoods take turns sprinting up the steep Tanosaka Hill pulling their floats.

September 11: Main Day Events

Magewappa Taiko Drum Performance

The local Magewappa Taiko Drum Group delivers a heart-pounding performance of their skill in front of Akita Bank.

Float Exhibition

Performers from each neighborhood put on their best performance to out-do their rivals as the floats pair off in front of Akita Bank.

Odate Station Music Performance

Highlight of the northern festival area

Four neighborhoods (isseiko, nichomeko, shisseiko, seiyoko) gather in front of Odate Station to perform together an original arrangement of the traditional Odate Shinmeisha Festival song.

Purifying Water Ceremony

Often called the “big water fight”, the ceremony is held to ask the local deity to provide protection, ward off evil, and bring prosperity to Odate City. Neighborhoods that take part in the ceremony: Tahoko, Suihiroko, Taihoko, Baryuko, Bentenko, Shinrenko, Nanshoko, Nanshinko.

Ceremony Outline

1. Shinto priest blesses the water
2. Neighbohoods leaders douse eachother with the purified water to mark the beginning of the “water fight”.
3. Iwamimizu—In the early days of the festival, floats would jostle with eachother for the right to pass first when meeting in the streets. It’s said that the jostling once erupted into one neighborhood throwing water on the other to get them to move out of the way. Now, neighborhoods take part in the Iwamimizu “water fight” ceremony instead of fighting. Participants take buckets filled with blessed water to throw at other neighborhoods in an act of purification and reconciliation.
4. Teuchimizu—Two representatives from each of the eight neighborhoods form a circular huddle. Representatives from four neighborhoods then form a smaller cirlce and are doused with water. Next, the remaining four neighborhoods head to the center to be doused.
5. Ohiro—With the neighborhood chosen to lead next year’s festival in the center, all the floats gather to perform their songs and dance.
6. Daidanen—The neighborhood in charge of the festival performs their song and dance.
7. Hikizuki-no-Gi—The torch is passed to the neighborhood in charge of next year’s festival.
8. Nanokoribayashi—The floats exit the performance area and complete a circuit around the neighborhood back to the performance area. Once back at the main intersection, the floats perform their songs and dance as long as time permits.