Held over five days at Shirakawa Hachiman Shrine in October, the Doburoku Matsuri is one of Japan's rarest festivals because sake brewing outside licensed premises is otherwise illegal — an exemption granted by centuries-old tradition. Villagers brew cloudy, unfiltered doburoku rice wine as an offering to the harvest deity, which is then distributed to festival-goers in a ritual unique to this UNESCO World Heritage village. Lion dances, sacred Shinto kagura music, and falconry performances accompany the offerings against the iconic thatched gassho farmhouses.
- Type
- Festival
- Category
- Matsuri
- Season
- Autumn
- Month
- Mid-October
- Region
- Chubu
- Prefecture
- Gifu
- City
- Shirakawa
Highlights
- ◆Sacred doburoku rice wine brewed legally under ancient exemption
- ◆1,200-year-old harvest ritual at Shirakawa Hachiman Shrine
- ◆Lion dance and traditional kagura music performances
- ◆UNESCO World Heritage gassho-zukuri thatched village setting
- ◆Rare opportunity to taste unfiltered ceremonial sake