With a history stretching back over 400 years, the Taimatsu Akashi torch festival in Sukagawa City is one of the three major fire festivals in Japan. As the night grows darker and the bonfires flare brightly here and there around the venue, groups of local junior high and senior high school students march through the town carrying 30 8-meter-long wooden torches called Hon-taimatsu, which they created by themselves, followed by a group of young men carrying the huge wooden torch called the Dai-taimatsu (10 meters long and weighing about 3 tons), and a group of women carrying a smaller wooden torch called the Hime-taimatsu (6 meters long and weighing 1 ton). These torches are carried to the top of Mt. Gorozan.
There is also a wooden frame depicting Sukagawa Castle and a group of samurai warriors. As the drummers from Oushu Sukagawa Taimatsu-Daiko Hozonkai powerfully beat their Taimatsu-Daiko drums, the torches and the wooden frame are lit with a sacred fire carried up by a group of runners from Nikaido Shrine. The whole mountain looks as if it is on fire. The combination of fire and the beating of the drums is reminiscent of the days in the Warring States period. Local students form chanting squads to cheer on their torch as it burns - this main section with the flaming torches takes around an hour.
In recent years, this traditional event has become well known as a participatory festival, allowing neighborhood associations, local elementary school pupils, and tourists to join the parade to Mt. Gorozan, each carrying a thin torchwood called a Sho-taimatsu (10 cm in diameter).
The schedule for the 2024 festival was as follows:
11:00 Midorigaoka Park Grass Square
Food and drink corner
13:00-16:00 tette
Small torch making corner
Note: After making your torch, you can join the small torch procession at 17.15.
13:00-16:00 Taimatsu Street Sukagawa Shinkin Bank Head Office (Parking Lot)
Commemorative photo with warriors in armor
Free Sengoku Nabe (pork soup) while stocks last
Sale of agricultural products
Shizuoka City Specialty Products Corner
Taimatsu Akashi Historic Site and Battlefield Walk Meeting Point (15:15)
Karate demonstration
13:30-14:10 In front of Yoshida Clinic on Taimatsu Street
Torch presentation
14:00 Torch Street Miyasakicho area
Sukagawa First Junior High School torch parade start
17:30-17:45 Nikaido Shrine
Sacred fire offering ceremony (receiving the sacred fire to light the torch)
17:00 (scheduled) Myoken Children's Park
Local organisations torch procession starts
17:15-18:00 Miharashibashi Parking Lot
General torch procession starts
Please participate with small torches made at the small torch crafting corner.
Small torches will also be available for purchase (500 yen each, limited to 100)
18:00-19:45 Mt. Goro Special Stage
Taiko drum performances
18:30 Mt. Goro main festival area
The large torch and 20 main torches are lit in sequence.
| Website | http://www.sukagawa-kankoukyoukai.jp/Event/page08.html(Automated translation available) |
|---|---|
| Contact | Sukagawa City Tourism Association (+81) 248-88-9144 |
| Best Season |
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| Parking | Available (Spaces for close to 2000 cars around the venue) |
| Related info | Main torch is usually lit from 6.30pm |
| Access | Mt. Gorozan in Midorigaoka Park, Kuriyasawa, Sukagawa City, Fukushima Pref. 962-0866 View directions |
|---|---|
| Getting there | By Car: 10 min from the Sukagawa I.C. exit off the Tohoku Expressway By Train: 10 min taxi ride from Sukagawa Station on the JR Tohoku Main Line |
Ebisu Circuit – revered as a drift racing paradise – is visited every year by lots of international visitors. Ebisu Circuit’s ‘Drift Taxi’ experience lets you ride as a passenger in a special drifting car while a professional Drift School Teacher speeds around the circuit! Booking and more information here.
There are records of Shirakawa Daruma (Japanese traditional dolls) being sold as far back as the feudal reign of the Niwa Domain in 1627. Current Shirakawa Daruma are known as “Shirakawa Tsurugame Shochikubai Daruma.” The faces of these dolls are painted to incorporate various animals and plants, with the eyebrows representing cranes, the mustache representing a turtle, the ears representing pines and plum trees, and the beard representing bamboo or pine trees. All of these images are thought to bring good luck. The daruma is known to be a very classical, lucky talisman, started by Matsudaira Sadanobu, the lord of Shirakawa, when he hired the renowned painter Tani Buncho to paint the now famous face on the daruma doll. Once every year a large Shirakawa Daruma Market is held to celebrate and sell the beloved daruma dolls. You can paint your own daruma at the two daruma workshops in town!
The only Japan Racing Association racecourse in the Tohoku region. Enjoy the excitement of the seasonal races held during Spring, Summer and Winter, as well as the traditional Tanabata Prize in July. The racecourse also has other areas for enjoying yourself, including a children's play area and athletic facilities, making it a great place to come with the family.
Try matcha green tea in a traditional tea house in Suirakuen Garden, located inside Nanko Park. Suirakuen Garden is also a popular place to visit for its fall foliage.
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Shirakawa Daruma Market is held annually on February 11. On this date, the streets become lined for 1.5 km with stalls selling Daruma of all shapes and sizes. This lively, exciting market celebrates the culture and history of Shirakawa Daruma – a traditional doll which is characterised by having cranes for eyebrows, a tortoise for a moustache, beard made of bamboo, and pine and plum branches for cheeks, all of which make it a very auspicious item to keep at home.
Fukushima City’s local summer festival ‘Fukushima Waraji Matsuri’ started in 1970. It is said that, despite its short history, this festival has its roots in an Edo Period traditional event known as the ‘Akatsuki-mairi’ (or Mt. Shinobu Dawn Procession).During the festival evenings, locals parade a huge straw sandal (known as a waraji) along Route 13. This procession is followed by many different groups, who perform dances around town. The first evening is filled with music from the Showa Era, while the songs of the second night are modern and very upbeat.This waraji weighs around 2 tons, is 12 metres in length, and is thought to be one of the biggest in Japan. Every February, local people follow the tradition of dedicating the waraji to Haguro Shrine on Mt. Shinobu, which is thought to help keep legs healthy and strong.The festival is held on the first weekend of August, with the 2025 festival likely to be held from Friday 1 to Sunday 3 August, 2025.
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