F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-169

Futakijima Festival — Funako Kogi Boat Race Ritual (Futakijima-sai / Funako-Kogi)

二木島祭・船子漕ぎにぎしままつり・ふなここぎ

The Futakijima Festival was the joint autumn festival of Muroko Jinja (enshrining Inahi-no-Mikoto) and Akoshi Jinja (enshrining Mikenu-no-Mikoto), two shrines facing each other across Futakijima Bay in Kumano City. Its central rite was a ceremonial boat race (funako-kogi) in which two large vessels decorated with five-colored hangings (menmaku) and streaming banners, each crewed by approximately forty oarsmen pulling eight oars, raced across the enclosed bay. The ritual was designated a Mie Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Owing to population decline, an aging community, and a critical shortage of bearers and participants, the festival was discontinued after its final observance on November 3, 2010 (Heisei 22), bringing to a close an unbroken tradition of approximately three hundred years. A separate community event, the Hōbai Matsuri, is now held annually during the Golden Week holidays in May.