F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-153
weird
Okayama Water-Throwing Festival
岡山の水かけ祭りおかやまのみずかけまつり
D A T E2026-10-25
A social rite of incorporation transmitted in the Okayama area of Fukushima City, deriving from a son-in-law (mukoiri) custom. Fukushima Prefectural Designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Men who married into the hamlet during the previous year are doused with cold water by residents, formally recognising them as members of the community. The rite is said to originate in the era of Minamoto no Yoritomo's Ōshū campaign and is embedded within the autumn rite of Kashima Shrine.
N O P H O T O
H I G H L I G H T S
Highlights
- 01Fukushima Prefectural Designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property
- 02A surviving example of a son-in-law-incorporation social rite
- 03Cold water poured on men who married in during the previous year
- 04An archaic stratum said to date to the Minamoto no Yoritomo era
- 05Integrated with the autumn rite of Kashima Shrine after the harvest
D E E P D I V E