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Held every year on May 4 and 5, the Tado Shrine Festival features young horseback riders in samurai armor who must jump a horse up and over a three-meter cliff. In this activity of Tado-Taisha Shrine, 6 young horsemen are selected from among the children of the congregation. They dress as warriors and become one with the horse to scale a steep hill slightly more than 3m high in a traditional horseback ceremony. This is traditionally believed to predict the harvest of the up coming year.
Tado Taisha Shrine is an old shrine said to have been established approximately 1500 years ago. Old trees surround the spacious grounds and enclose the main temple, entry shrine, and shrine annex. It is well known as a shrine for praying to God for rain. This shrine has five nationally-designated and one prefecture-designated Important Cultural Properties.
Other Festivals around Tado Taisha Shrine
Yabusame-Sai (Yabusame Festival)
[Held on November 23)
A man on horseback equipped with a bow and arrow takes three consecutive shots at a target in accordance with Ogasawara School of etiquette. Contact – Tado-Taisha Shrine.
Lantern Festival
(Held on Saturday and Sunday in late-July)
In 1928, the tradition of floating lanterns down the river around the mouth of Eno Bay when the river opened was started. After that, it was discontinued for a time, but it was revived in 1987. During the daytime, the lantern is pulled through the street on foot, and at night the giant 7m lantern, of which only 1 is made per year, is floated down the river accompanied by a fireworks performance over the ocean.
Address and Contact:
Tado-Taisha Shrine
1681 Tado, Tado-town (Tado-cho), Kuwana District (Kuwana-gun), Mie Prefecture 511-0106 Getting there: Five minutes by bus from Kintetsu Tado station. TEL: 0594-48-2037 FAX:0594-48-5381
E-mail: hp_m…@tadotaisya.or.jp
Website: http://tadotaisya.or.jp/
Lantern Festival Executive Committee Organizer
287-15 Kiinagashi-maku, Higashinagashima, Kihoku Town (Kihoku-cho), Kitamuro District (Kitamuro-gun), Mie Prefecture 519-3204 TEL: 05974-7-5378 FAX: 05974-7-1081
Lantern Festival around Tado-Taisha Shrine: http://tadotaisya.or.jp/tyoutin/index.html
Lantern Festival Website: http://www.touroumaturi.com/
