Updated: Click here for the 2018 Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri Festival Schedule.
The Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri is a major float festival held in mid-April in Nagahama in northern Shiga Prefecture. The highlight is child kabuki actors performing on four ornate floats. On Dec. 1, 2016 (JST), it was inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as one of 33 “Yama, Hoko, and Yatai float festivals in Japan.” The festival is held near JR Nagahama Station on the JR Hokuriku Line.
Here is a schedule of major festival events in 2016 (times are approximate):
April 13
6:00 p.m. to around 8:30 p.m.: April 13 evening performance of child kabuki plays on four floats in their respective neighborhoods. This is their first public performance in full makeup and costume. In case of rain, certain floats might seek shelter inside the shopping arcade or in the Nagahama Hikiyama Museum’s extra storehouse for their performances. (十三日番)
April 14
10 a.m. to noon: Morning performance of child kabuki plays on four floats in their respective neighborhoods. (自町狂言)
Noon: The four floats are pulled (and pushed) from their neighborhoods to Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine (Noboriyama 登り山).
4:00 p.m.: The Naginata float arrives at the Otabisho rest place.
7:00 p.m.: Evening procession of child kabuki actors walking from Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine to Nagahama Hikiyama Museum through Otemon-dori shopping arcade. (Yu-watari 夕渡り)
April 15 (Main day)
8:30 a.m.: Arrival of child kabuki actors at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine. (Asa-watari 朝渡り)
9:20 a.m.: Arrival of sword bearers at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine. (Tachi-watari 太刀渡り)
9:35 a.m.: Opening ritual to mark the start of kabuki performances. (Okina-maneki 翁招き)
9:55 a.m.–10:40 a.m.: Performance of a child kabuki play on the first of four floats at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine. 40 min. long. (Hono kyogen 奉納狂言)
11:10 a.m.–11:50 a.m.: Performance of child kabuki play on the second float at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine.
12:20 a.m.–1:00 p.m.: Performance of child kabuki play on the third float at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine.
1:30 p.m.–2:10 p.m.: Performance of child kabuki play on the fourth float at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine.
*The order of the floats’ performances is decided on April 13 via the Kuji-tori ceremony (籤取り式の儀) where they draw lots to see which float is No. 1, 2, 3, or 4.
After performing at the shrine, each float will move across town along Otemon-dori road (shopping arcade, Kurokabe Square, etc.) to the Otabisho rest place. Along the way, they will stop and perform kabuki three more times with the last performance at the Otabisho starting at 7:40 p.m. Each float performs the same kabuki play each time.
9:30 p.m.: At the Otabisho rest place after all the floats finish performing, a short Shinto ceremony is held and the portable shrine in the Otabisho is taken out and carried back to Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine.
9:30 p.m.: The four floats start to leave the Otabisho to return to their neighborhoods.
April 16
Morning to evening: After-festival kabuki performances are given by the four floats once each in the morning, afternoon, and evening in their respective neighborhoods in central Nagahama. Each float’s final performance of the festival is called senshuraku (千秋楽). Expect to see some tearful kids and parents after the last show is over. (Goen kyogen 後宴狂言)
For details in Japanese, see or download this pdf file from the Nagahama Hikiyama Museum. Also see the map below or click on this map link.
