Onbashira matsuri: Japan's most dangerous festival 御柱祭

The showdown

 

Founded more than 1,200 years ago, Suwa-taisha, the "Suwa Grand Shrine", in Nagano Prefecture, is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan. The Onbashira festival has been celebrated every six years for 1,200 years in order to symbolically rebuild the buildings of the Suwa-taisha by replacing the four "sacred pillars" (translation of Onbashira). It is a unique festival and reputed to be the most dangerous in the world. Get ready for 2022!

 


Address, timetable & access

  • Address

  • Timetable

    JR Chuo line Chino or Shimosuwa station

Our tours in Nagano

  • Duration : 13 days
  • Locations : Tokyo, Hakone Mt Fuji, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Miyajima
  • Included : Visits & meals, English-speaking tour leader, Hotel temple, 3*/4* Hotels & Ryokan
  • Duration : 14 days
  • Locations : Tokyo, Hakone Mt Fuji, Kyoto, Nara, Koyasan, Osaka
  • Included : English-speaking tour leader, 3*/4* Hotels & Ryokan, Hotel temple, Visits & meals
  • Duration : 12 days
  • Locations : Tokyo, Mt Fuji (Kawaguchiko), Osaka, Himeji, Kyoto, Nara
  • Included : English-speaking tour leader, 3* Hotels & Ryokan, Visits & meals
  • Duration : 12 days
  • Locations : Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kawaguchiko, Tokyo
  • Included : English-speaking tour leader, 3*/4* Hotels & Ryokan, Visits & meals
  • Duration : 21 days
  • Locations : Tokyo, Hakone Mt Fuji, Kyoto, Nara, Koyasan, Osaka, Kobe, Takachiho, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Miyajima
  • Included : English-speaking tour leader, 3*/4* Hotels & Ryokan, Hotel temple, Visits & meals
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