Mibu no Hana Taue

Overview

Mibu no Hana Taue is a traditional rice-planting ritual held in Mibu, Kitahiroshima Town, Yamagata District, Hiroshima Prefecture, on the first Sunday of June each year to pray for a bountiful harvest. Designated a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1976, it was inscribed in 2011 on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It boasts the largest scale among the hana-taue rituals surviving in western Japan today.

History and Origins

Since around the Kamakura period, western Japan had a custom in which, during rice planting, musicians played large and small drums, flutes, and hand gongs in time with the sasara clappers of a song leader, while saotome (young female planters) set out seedlings as they sang planting songs. This was an agricultural rite honoring Sanbai, the deity of the rice paddy, to pray for good health and an abundant harvest, and also a device for performing the heavy labor of rice planting enjoyably together.

In time the ritual grew more splendid by gathering many people: the cattle that tilled the paddy wore flower-decorated saddles, and the saotome dressed up in red sashes and waistcloths to mark the festive day. This splendor is said to be the origin of the name "hana-taue" (flower rice-planting). The tradition of Mibu no Hana Taue is carried on by the Kawahigashi Dengaku troupe and the Mibu Dengaku troupe, and for its depth of history it was designated a national important property and inscribed on the UNESCO list.

Highlights

The brilliantly adorned decorated cattle, the saotome in kasuri kimono and sedge hats, and the musicians displaying superb stick technique all stand out against the fresh green mountains and the water of the paddy, forming a grand scroll of early summer. The rite begins by welcoming Sanbai, the deity of the paddy, after which planting songs are sung in succession. Songs such as "At the song's start, let us first welcome Sanbai" and "Saotome, plant shallowly" carry prayers to the deity and wishes for a rich harvest. The sequence of motions, from the cattle's tilling to the saotome's planting, is a precious folk performing art that conveys Japan's rice-planting culture to the present.

Event Information & Access

It is held on the first Sunday of June each year. The venue is a paddy field in Mibu, Kitahiroshima Town, Hiroshima Prefecture, with many visitors arriving by car from central Hiroshima. As the ritual unfolds in a paddy against a backdrop of fresh green hills, it is an outdoor early-summer event.

Around the Venue

Kitahiroshima Town lies within the Chugoku Mountains and is also known as an area where kagura (Geihoku kagura) flourishes. Rich nature and rural scenery extend across the region, and traditions of folk performing arts such as dengaku and kagura remain strong. Within Hiroshima Prefecture there are also famous sights such as the World Heritage Itsukushima Shrine and the Atomic Bomb Dome, allowing a trip that combines Hiroshima sightseeing with the traditional culture of the Chugoku Mountains.

Related Information

• Month: First Sunday of June (summer)
• Prefecture: Hiroshima (Chugoku)
• Venue: Paddy field in Mibu, Kitahiroshima Town
• Designation: National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property (1976) / UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (2011)
• Preserving troupes: Kawahigashi Dengaku and Mibu Dengaku

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