No dragging down of trees by manpower at Onbashira Festival 2022 because of Covid-19!

Here we have another sad news owing to the pandemic of Covid-19. No dragging down of trees by manpower at Onbashira Festival will take place this year. Onbashita Festival is a crazy event, where people climb down a steep slope of more than 40 degrees, straddling a large tree with a circumference of 3m as shown in the photo above. This is a very dangerous festival with many injuries and even deaths in the past.

It is counted as one of the three bizarrest festivals in Japan and takes place only once every seven years. This year for the precaution measurement against Covid-19, trees will be transported  not by man power but by vehicles. It is very sad that once every 7 years events are changed by the pandemic. I was supposed to visit there to film the festival but my plan was also canceled. I did a comprehensive research about the festival so I would like to share it with you in this article.

(1) Where does this festival take place?

The festival is held at the Suwa Taisha Shrine, which is located on Lake Suwa at the foot of the Southern Alps in Nagano Prefecture, almost in the centre of Japan.
Suwa Taisha is divided into two shrines: the Lower Shrine on the north side of the lake and the Upper Shrine on the south side.

Suwa Taisha is said to have been built between 1500 and 2000 years ago. The yew and cedar trees in the nearby mountains respectively are enshrined as gods of two shrines. Because nature itself is enshrined, Suwa Taisha does not have the buildings called “Honden” that normally house the deities. Instead, the shrine is surrounded by large trees in the four corners of the shrine, where the spirit of the gods resides, and so you can feel a connection to gods in this area.

Every seven years, these trees are replaced with new ones to ensure that their energy does not weaken. This is the Onbashira Festival.

(2) What kind of festival?

The preparation for the festival starts three years ago with the selection of the tree. From the shrine-owned forests and national forests at the foot of the Yatsugatake Mountains, they choose 16 large trees that are at least 150 years old, 3m in circumference, 17m in length and weighing nearly 3 tons.
The trees are cut from the mountain the year before the festival, got rid of their branches and leaves, stripped of their bark and dried at the foot of the mountain.

In April of the year of the festival, "Yamadashi", the transport of the trees from the mountain, begins. The trees are moved from the foot of the Yatsugatake Mountains to the Suwa Taisha Shrine, a distance of 25km, using only human power partially with the help of carts.

The main event of the festival is the "Kiotoshi" as shown in the photo above. A large number of people straddle the tree and tumble down the steep slope of the mountain. The momentum is so fierce that many people are thrown off the tree and many are injured.

Another highlight of the festival is the "Kawagoe" (crossing the river), where the tree is towed by participants across a cold river with a water temperature of 10 degrees Celsius due to melting snow.

Finally, in May, the "Satohiki" begins. The trees head towards the Suwa Taisha with a procession of dancers in traditional costumes and people riding horses. Finally when they arrive at the shrine, a large number of people pull the rope and erect the trees in the four corners of the shrine and offer prayers.

(3) Why is it still done by human power?

Of course, it has meanings to pass on to the future the technique of using the river to carry trees and the usage of コロ to carry heavy objects over long distances (for example, the way stones are carried when building the pyramids). However, the most important reason would be a belief that by carrying big trees, in which God's spirit resides, with only human power, people's faith and thoughts will be transmitted to trees and God's spirit will become stronger.

It is very sad that this tradition has to be modified because of Covid-19 thi year!

(For father inquiry)
Shimosuwa Town Onbashira Festival Executive Committee Office (9:00-17:00)
+81-266-78-9066