F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-243

Kinomoto Festival (Kinomoto Shrine Grand Festival)

木本祭（木本神社例大祭）きのもとまつり（きのもとじんじゃれいたいさい）

The grand autumn festival of Kinomoto Shrine in the central district of Kumano City, Mie Prefecture, said to date back to around 1608 (Keicho 13) and thus to have over four centuries of history. Its centerpiece is the mikoshi procession nicknamed the "raging portable shrine" (abare-mikoshi): men in white garments who have purified themselves in seawater grapple with and haul a portable shrine weighing roughly one ton, launching it vigorously from the shrine precincts. Floats from each neighborhood, a children's roppo procession with kabuki-style face painting, and the Motomiya taiko drums accompany the mikoshi, forming the festive landscape of this Kumano port town. Kinomoto Shrine, originally called Nyakuichi-oji Gongen, is said to have been relocated to its present site from the Shinden district, and the roppo procession was designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Kumano City on January 28, 1999. Blending fishing-port culture with float-and-mikoshi revelry, it is one of the most spirited port-town autumn festivals in the southern Kii region.