Wakaba Festival (Unagoji Festival) | Toyokawa City | Aichi Prefecture | Official Site | Sightseeing Information | Directions | Parking | Details | VISIT AICHI-OFFICIAL SITE FOR TOURISM AICHI

Toyokawa-City Wakaba Festival (Unagoji Festival)

Date : 04/06/2024, 04/07/2024


  • Wakaba Festival (Unagoji Festival)
  • Wakaba Festival (Unagoji Festival)

Falling-on-the-floor drunk

The Wakaba Festival is a very unique, if not amusing, festival.
It is believed that this festival has its origins as homage to the lords of Imahashi Castle, which existed in the current location of Yoshida Castle in Toyohashi City, beginning with samurai Makino Kohaku and his successors, who preached that "the country owes its existence to the people who live in it." Once, the lord was so overwhelmed with gratitude for the hard work of his loyal retainers upon completion of a new fortification, that he decided to host a generous banquet with plenty of food and rice wine, inviting all the populace. The guests became so inebriated that many were not even able to properly walk back home, stumbling and hanging onto each other's shoulders, while others would just pass out on the streets. Due to the sheer number of guests, people were spread everywhere around town. The memory of this happy event and the lord’s generosity was so well imprinted into the minds of the townsfolk that they decide to celebrate the event every year since then.
Five parade floats are complemented by festive sasa dancing and a grand musical accompaniment, as they parade from Ushikubo Hachimansha Shrine to Tennosha Shrine and back. Members of the musical accompaniment break at certain times—no matter the place—and drop to the ground with the dancers wriggling around like a bunch of maggots on the street, earning the festival its nickname of the "Unagoji Festival," or the "Maggot Festival"!
This one-of-a-kind festival is designated a prefectural intangible cultural property.

EVENT OVERVIEW

Date : Sat, Apr 6–Sun, Apr 7, 2024

Note:
• Held even in rainy weather.
Holding time : Sat, Apr 6: Rehearsal festival
Sun, Apr 7: Main festival
Place : Ushikubo Hachimansha Shrine
Location : 〒442-0826
164 Tokiwa, Ushikubo-cho, Toyokawa-shi, Aichi
Phone number : 0533-89-2206 (Toyokawa Visitors Bureau)

Note: This page may not be current due to update time differences between site databases.
Should accuracy be critical, please verify this information using a direct source, whenever possible.

ACCESS

  • Access by public transport
    Access by public transport
    5-min. (500-m) walk north from Ushikubo Station on the JR Iida Line (board from JR/Meitetsu Toyohashi Station).
  • Access by car
    Access by car
    Approx. 15 min. from Toyokawa Interchange on the Tomei Expressway.

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KeywordKeyword
#Wakaba Festival
#Unagoji Festival
#funny
#comical
#Ushikubo Hachimansha Shrine
#Tennosha Shrine
#Mikawa
#Eastern Mikawa
#Toyokawa

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