The Onbashira Festival, held every six years at Suwa Grand Shrine — Japan's oldest shrine — is one of the country's most thrilling and ancient rituals, dating back at least 1,200 years. In the Yamadashi phase, teams of men ride enormous 12-metre fir logs (onbashira) as they are hauled down a steep slope called Kiotoshi, a supremely dangerous act regarded as a great honour. The logs are then transported across the region and raised at each of Suwa's four shrine precincts in the Satobiki phase. The next occurrence is in 2028. The festival is a profound expression of Shinto belief and communal identity unique to the Suwa Basin.
- Type
- Festival
- Category
- Matsuri
- Season
- Spring
- Month
- April (Satō-biki, log-felling phase); May (Satobiki, shrine-raising phase)
- Region
- Chubu
- Prefecture
- Nagano
- City
- Suwa
Highlights
- ◆Men riding giant fir logs down steep Kiotoshi slope
- ◆Ancient 1,200-year-old Shinto ritual at Japan's oldest shrine
- ◆16 enormous sacred logs transported across the Suwa Basin
- ◆Log-raising ceremony at four Suwa shrine precincts
- ◆Occurs only once every six years (next: 2028)