Mikuni Festival (Mikuni Shrine Annual Festival)

The Mikuni Festival is the annual festival of Mikuni Shrine in Mikuni, an old port town on the Sea of Japan in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture. Counted among the three great festivals of Hokuriku and designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Fukui Prefecture, it is known for its tall floats, called yama (山車), each topped with a large warrior doll.

History

Floats in their present form, a wheeled stand carrying a large doll, are said to have first appeared about 300 years ago. In the middle of the Meiji era some stood more than 10 metres high, and the heads of their warrior dolls could reportedly be seen from the surrounding villages. Today the floats are 6.5 metres tall. The dolls are made anew every year, and the festival still carries the pride of Mikuni's days as a wealthy port.

What happens

The festival lasts a week, from the miyabiraki, when the shrine's inner hall is opened and banners go up, to a closing rite. In the first days the floats stand on show at their storehouses, and on the eve a float of the preservation society parades by the light of tall lanterns.

On the main day six floats gather in front of Mikuni Shrine, each carrying children who play festival music on shamisen, flutes and drums. After a ceremony praying for a safe procession, the mikoshi (神輿), a portable shrine, and the floats set off in turn through the town. In the late afternoon they reach the street in front of Mikuni Station, where young men from each district meet them with tall paper lanterns. As evening falls the floats head back to their districts through streets lined with food stalls, pulled along in one crowd of haulers and onlookers.

The 2026 floats

The six floats of 2026 carried Minamoto no Yoshitsune; Kamakura Gongoro Kagemasa from the kabuki play Shibaraku; the warrior Maeda Keiji; the magistrate Toyama Kinshiro, offered by Takidani district for the first time in 40 years; Taira no Tomomori shouldering an anchor at the Battle of Dan-no-ura; and the sword attack in the Pine Corridor of Edo Castle in 1701, the incident behind the story of the 47 ronin.