Kumano Hongu Reitaisai: Sacred Child Rites in Spring

From April 13 to 15 every year, Kumano Hongu Taisha in Hongu, Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, holds its grand annual festival. The shrine calls it the most important rite of its year, held to honour the enshrined deities and pray for peace. It unfolds over three days: the hot spring rite on the 13th, a subsidiary shrine rite on the 14th, and the main sanctuary rite and procession on the 15th. At the centre of it all are very small children, treated as vessels for the deity.

Carried on Shoulders to Yunomine

The festival opens on April 13 with the Yunobori Shinji. Priests, sacred musicians, parish representatives and mountain ascetics gather, and adults known as uma, meaning horse, carry small children on their shoulders toward Yunomine Onsen. Apart from the yasabaki rite itself, the children are never set down on the ground.

At Yunomine they are purified in the hot spring water, dressed in ceremonial robes, and perform the yasabaki dance at the Yunomine Oji shrine, striking a small drum hung at the chest. The party offers the dance again at other sacred spots, pays distant respects to Oyunohara, and returns over a steep mountain path. The sight of fathers carrying infants across it is the defining image of the day, and it makes vivid why Yunomine has served for centuries as the place where Kumano pilgrims purified themselves.

The Procession to Oyunohara

April 15 brings the main sanctuary rite and the grand procession. The portable shrine and its attendants leave Kumano Hongu Taisha for Oyunohara, the original shrine site on a sandbank in the Kumano River, now marked by a huge torii gate.

At Oyunohara, local schoolchildren offer the Yamato Mai dance and shrine maidens perform. The children take charge of the rice-planting rite: in front of four flower standards and the portable shrine, an area roughly 3 metres square is marked out with posts and a sacred rope to stand for a paddy field, and boys carrying hoes, rakes and seedlings, with girls in flower hats as planting maidens, pray for a good harvest. Mountain ascetics light a ritual fire, and the day ends with rice cakes thrown to the crowd.

Kumano Faith and Daily Life

Kumano Hongu Taisha is one of the three Kumano grand shrines and part of the World Heritage site of Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. The hot spring rite and rice-planting rite were designated by Wakayama Prefecture in 1966, with an additional designation in 2019.

At the heart of the Kumano pilgrimage, the deity is invited into the youngest possible body, purified in hot spring water, carried over a mountain, and asked at the old shrine grounds to bless the rice crop. Faith and farming life run along the same thread here.

Tips for Visiting

Of the three days, the 15th is easiest to follow and draws the largest crowds; most people wait along the route between the shrine and Oyunohara. The rite on the 13th keeps moving between Yunomine Onsen and mountain trails, so following it end to end takes some walking; a realistic plan is to wait at Yunomine Oji for the dance.

Mid-April mornings and evenings in Hongu are still cold, so bring an extra layer and a hat for the open riverbed at Oyunohara. Take care not to block the procession route.

Getting There

Kumano Hongu Taisha is about 60 minutes by bus from JR Shingu Station or about 2 hours 10 minutes from JR Kii-Tanabe Station, in both cases a 6 minute walk from the Hongu Taisha-mae stop. From Shirahama Onsen the Kumano Kodo limited express bus takes about 90 minutes. Services here are infrequent and morning arrivals especially limited, so check timetables in advance.

Practical Information

• Dates: April 13 to 15 every year (13th hot spring rite, 14th subsidiary shrine rite, 15th main sanctuary rite and procession)
• Venue: Kumano Hongu Taisha and Oyunohara, 1110 Hongu, Hongu-cho, Tanabe, Wakayama
• Inquiries: Kumano Hongu Taisha, Tel 0735-42-0009
• Access: About 60 minutes by bus from JR Shingu Station, then 6 minutes on foot from Hongu Taisha-mae
• Parking: Yes
• Cultural status: Wakayama Prefecture Intangible Folk Cultural Property
• Admission: Free
• Official website: https://www.hongutaisha.jp/

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

(Sources: Kumano Hongu Taisha official website, Kumano Sanzan Council, Hongu Tourist Association, Wakayama Prefecture cultural properties database)