Niihama Taiko Matsuri

The Niihama Taiko Matsuri is held on the 16-18th of October. Niihama City is located right next to Saijo City and is competing for festival visitors with the Saijo Matsuri which is held around the same time.

Each of 50 neighborhoods in Niihama has its own Taiko float, which consists of an decorated wooden center frame, covered in panels made of gold thread. The column is covered with a fabric top (usually red and white), which symbolically represents the sun; it is surrounded by long black cushions folded into a figure of 8 with hanging tassels, representing the clouds and rain. The design is intended to show gratitude for a good harvest. Gold dragons adorn the top panels of the float while the lower panels show traditional buildings, animals or legends. Inside the float, a drummer beats a deep booming taiko drum, providing the rhythm that guides 150 men below, who carry the float by four long wooden beams at the float’s base. Four crew members stand on the beams and control the rest of the crew with flags, whistles and chants while four more are perched precariously on the top some 5.4 m above ground.

The most spectacular of these happens at Utsunomiya Jinja near Yamane Ground where several floats are carried up many steps at about 4am to a small shrine on the top of a hill. For three days straight (October 16-18), 12 to 14 hours per day, they carry the floats in parades all over the city and park them for display, drinking copious amounts of sake. Sake bottlers even release commemorative bottles with labels featuring pictures of various float-carrying teams.

There is also a bit of fighting involved every now and then. The Taiko-carrying teams are known to start fights, in which two teams ram their floats into each other until one or both floats are destroyed.

Website: Niihama City website has the official information about the festival (all in Japanese).

Transport: Yamane Ground – the place where most of the festival is being held is a bit far away from public transport. Probably a taxi from Niihama train station is the best option. Parking is somewhat limited on the side of the street but possible.