A Remarkable Event at a Respected Shrine

It is said that prior to the construction of the Yoshida Castle, a prayer ceremony was held at the Hada Hachimangu Shrine, and great feats that took place at the castle after that ritual were attributed to the shrine's divine power. This fact is probably one of the major factors that made the line of castle lords so reverent towards it, expressed through generous donations that lead to improvements and expansion of the shrine, making the Hada Hachimangu one of the leading shrines of its kind in Aichi Prefecture both in significance and size.

Every year, the first Saturday and Sunday of October mark the days for the Hada Festival. Parishioner guilds from 20 districts of Toyohashi gather for the huge event, considered one of the three most important ones of the city, in order to pray and make fire offerings in return for abundant crops. Each of them bring its own portable shrine, carried on the shoulders of the younger and strongest ones. After the rituals, when the sky starts to get dark, the cannons are lit in succession and the majestic columns of fire make for a thrilling and unforgettable sight that endure for several hours into the night, on both days.

Toyohashi-City, called Yoshida in the days of old Japan under the Shogunate of Tokugawa Ieyasu, was part of the center of gun powder production, together with neighboring settlements such as Okazaki. Manufacturing of explosives outside of that area was severely restricted, making the rules inside the region quite relaxed. Hence producers there could research, stockpile and use in their daily lives. That's the main reason fireworks were heavily incorporated into religious rituals, and why even today the Mikawa area boasts about 70% of Japan's total fireworks production output.