F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-134
animal
Yansanma Festival (Kamo Festival, Bull-Riding Rite)
やんさんま祭り（加茂祭）やんさんままつり（かもさい）
D A T E2026-05-04
The great spring festival of Shimomura Kamo Shrine in Imizu City, Toyama Prefecture, held on May 4 each year. In the 'bull-riding ceremony' said to be unique in Japan, a man portraying the rice-paddy god as 'Ōbana' mounts a bull and forces it to its knees on the ground, performing a charm that 'binds' the harvest god to the locality. In the yabusame horseback-archery ceremony, the rider also spins a 3.6 m great bow with both hands released, performing a ritualized farming gesture. A Toyama Prefecture Designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property.
N O P H O T O
H I G H L I G H T S
Highlights
- 01Toyama Prefecture Designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property
- 02A 'bull-riding ceremony' said to be unique in Japan
- 03Yabusame in which a 3.6 m great bow is spun with both hands released
- 04The rice-paddy god 'Ōbana' mounts a bull in an agricultural pre-celebration
- 05Preserving the structure of an ancient rite said to date back before the medieval period
D E E P D I V E