Okuribon Festival

Overview

Okuribon Matsuri (送り盆まつり) is a traditional summer festival held annually from August 16 to 18 in Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture. Originating as a ritual to send off ancestral spirits at the close of the Obon season, the festival features massive floats called yakata-bune (palace boats) parading through downtown Yuzawa, culminating on the final night in a fierce yakata-bune collision event called butsuke-ai.

History

The festival is said to have begun in the mid-Edo period, when townspeople culture flourished under the rule of the Yuzawa domain, as a spirit-sending ritual to escort the souls of ancestors to the other shore. Originally a modest lantern-floating event, the floats gradually grew larger, with each neighborhood designing its own distinctive yakata-bune. From the Meiji era onward, the festival was managed by young men's associations of each district. After a wartime interruption, it was fully revived in 1957 and has continued in its present form ever since.

Highlights

The main attraction is the yakata-bune, ornate floats approximately 5 meters long and 4 meters high. Decorated with vivid carvings and paper lanterns, the boats parade through the town to the rhythm of taiko drums and flutes. On the final night of August 18, at the plaza in front of City Hall, the yakata-bune from each district crash head-on into one another in a dramatic display called butsuke-ai, thrilling spectators with a fiery, sparks-flying intensity. After the festival, the boats are burned at the Yuzawa River, completing the spirit-sending ritual.

Event Information

The venue is Maesato Nibancho-dori in Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture, with the butsuke-ai held at the plaza in front of City Hall. The nearest station is Yuzawa Station on the JR Ou Main Line, about a 10-minute walk away. The festival runs annually from August 16 to 18, with the butsuke-ai beginning around 7:00 PM on August 18. Admission is free, and a safe viewing area is set up at a distance from the collision zone. Evenings in mid-August in the Tohoku region can be cool, so a light jacket is recommended.

Nearby Attractions

Yuzawa City is located in southern Akita Prefecture and is known as the birthplace of Inaniwa udon, one of Japan's three great udon varieties. Local attractions include the Innai Silver Mine ruins and Oyasukyo Onsen, where hot-spring towns and historical sites are scattered through the area. Alongside the Yokote Snow Festival (Kamakura) in neighboring Yokote City and the Omagari Fireworks in Daisen City, it is sometimes counted as one of southern Akita's three great festivals.

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