Ishizaki Lantern Festival (Ishizaki Hōtō Matsuri)

Begun in 1889 to appease fires, with seven 15-metre towers in the fishermen's alleys.

Seven large 奉燈 (kiriko), 13–15 metres tall, about 2.5 wide and 9 deep across the supporting poles, and weighing about two tonnes, are hoisted and carried on the shoulders of about a hundred men through the alleys of the fishing district of Ishizaki, to the cry of ‘サッカサイ、サカサッサイ、イヤサカサー’. Until 1995 the date followed the lunar calendar; today the festival falls on the first Saturday of August, with a preview the evening before.

Festival of Ishizaki Hachiman Shrine, in the fishing district of Ishizaki (Nanao), part of the kiriko tradition: the processional lanterns that bring the Noto Peninsula's summer to life. It is one of the components of the Japan Heritage (日本遺産) story ‘Akari mau hantō Noto’ (灯り舞う半島 能登, ‘the Noto Peninsula where the lights dance’, Story #004), which brings together the kiriko festivals of the whole peninsula. The festival began in 1889, after a series of fires at the local shrine: the residents received an old kiriko from Ushitsu, in Oku-Noto, and made it a rite to ‘appease the fire’.

ℹ️ The shrine and the district are public and always accessible outside festival days. The procession is held on the first Saturday of August (preview on the Friday evening), with the high points (‘乱舞’, the lanterns running in circles) at around 17:10 and 20:00. A few minutes’ walk from JR Wakura Onsen Station.

🚉 Wakura-Onsen · 10 min walk

Sources: city.nanao.lg.jp · ja.wikipedia.org · japan-heritage.bunka.go.jp

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