F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-124
weird
Omi no Take no Karakai (Bamboo Tug-of-War)
青海の竹のからかいおうみのたけのからかい
D A T E2026-01-15
A Little New Year (Koshogatsu) rite held on January 15 in the Omi district of Itoigawa, Niigata. Young men in stylized kumadori makeup divide into east and west teams and pull on a thick 'isami-dake' and a thin 'awase-dake' bamboo; the outcome divines abundant harvests and a good fishing year. A Sai-no-kami fire-burning rite follows. Said to have been transmitted since the Edo period. Designated in 1987 as the Nationally Designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property 'Omi no Take no Karakai' (customary practices category).
N O P H O T O
H I G H L I G H T S
Highlights
- 01Nationally Designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property (designated 1987, customary practices)
- 02Said to have had three such rites nationwide but to be the sole surviving Little New Year example
- 03Stylized choreography by young men in kumadori makeup
- 04Divinatory tug-of-war that foretells the year's fortune
- 05Two-stage structure of bamboo pulling followed by the Sai-no-kami fire
D E E P D I V E