Hatsuuma Sai: Dancing Horses at Kagoshima Jingu Shrine

In the town of Hayato in Kirishima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, spring is announced by a festival with no real equivalent elsewhere in Japan. At Kagoshima Jingu, horses dance. Not gallop, not parade, but dance, lifting their forelegs and rocking their heads in time with drums and shamisen while hundreds of bells ring from their chests. The festival is called Hatsuuma Sai, and it falls on the first Sunday after the 18th day of the first lunar month, in practice late February or early March.

Horses That Dance

The stars of the day are the suzukake uma, or bell-hung horses, and roughly 20 take part. Each wears a broad breast ornament strung with dozens of small bells and a saddle decorated with flowers and brocade. As the musicians strike up, the horse lifts one foreleg, sets it down, shifts its weight and lifts the other, marking the beat with its hind legs. Every step sets the ornament ringing, and because the grounds are enclosed by stone paving and wooden halls the sound comes back with a bright metallic shimmer.

Beside every horse walks a handler holding the rein and matching his own breathing to the animal. That relationship is the real spectacle: handler and horse are searching for the rhythm together.

Twelve Hundred Dancers

Behind the horses come the odori ren, the dance groups, about 1,200 people according to Kirishima City. They form up by neighbourhood and organisation, wearing matching happi coats or kimono, and work up the shrine approach turning their hands in unison. Food stalls line the route, and each time a new group approaches the rhythm changes along with the clapping of the onlookers.

The festival runs from about 9:30 to 16:00, with groups arriving in waves, so whatever time you come, something is happening.

Around 470 Years of History

The deity enshrined at Kagoshima Jingu is Hikohohodemi no Mikoto, better known in myth as Yamasachihiko. According to the shrine, the festival repays the blessings of a deity who taught the people farming, stock raising, fishing and hunting. The precise origin is not recorded, but one tradition holds that in the time of the Shimazu lord Takahisa a divine dream about a sacred horse came on the 18th day of the first month, and the date has been kept ever since. The prefectural tourism site describes the event as a tradition going back around 470 years.

Tips for Visiting

The best viewing is along the shrine approach and the straight stretch just before it. Remember that these are living animals: do not stand in the path of a horse and do not use a flash at close range, since a startled horse is a danger to its handler and to the crowd. Step back and shoot the horses in profile as they pass, which captures the swinging bells better anyway.

Late February to early March in Kirishima is still cold morning and evening, so bring a warm coat, comfortable shoes and rain gear, since the festival goes ahead in light rain. Buy something hot from a stall and step out of the flow of people to rest, and the day works well even with small children or older travellers. Afterwards, the hot springs of Hinatayama in the same part of Hayato are an easy way to warm up.

Getting There

Kagoshima Jingu is about a 15 minute walk from Hayato Station on the JR Nippo Main Line, roughly 15 minutes by car from Kagoshima Airport and about 5 minutes from the Hayato Nishi interchange on the Higashi Kyushu Expressway. Traffic restrictions are in place around the shrine on the day, and both Kirishima City and the prefectural tourism office ask visitors to come by public transport.

Practical Information

• Dates: the first Sunday after the 18th day of the first lunar month. Kirishima City lists 28 February 2027, 20 February 2028 and 4 March 2029.
• Venue: Kagoshima Jingu, 2496 Hayato-cho Uchi, Kirishima City, Kagoshima Prefecture
• Organiser: Hatsuuma Sai Executive Committee, c/o Kirishima City Tourism PR Division, 0995-64-0895
• Access: about 15 minutes on foot from JR Hayato Station; about 15 minutes by car from Kagoshima Airport
• Parking: traffic restrictions apply around the shrine, and visitors are asked to use public transport
• Weather: held in light rain
• Official website: https://kagoshima-jingu.jp/

* Dates, details and prices are subject to change. Please check the official website before you go.

(Sources: Kagoshima Jingu official website, Kirishima City official website, Kagoshima Prefecture official tourism website)