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- Shimizu Lantern Festival (Religious rites only)
Shitara-Town Shimizu Lantern Festival (Religious rites only)
Date : 06/30/2024
Shinto religious rituals only held for 2024
A free-for-all to claim your own lantern
The Shimizu Lantern Festival is held at the town of Shitara's Tsushima Jinja Shrine, which worships the great Shinto god Susano'o no Mikoto, and is modeled on the same festival held at the head Tsushima Jinja Shrine. Numerous Chinese-style lanterns donated to the shrine are lit up as a religious dedication to the deity, and a parade float adorned with some 150 lanterns is pulled out to visit Tsushima Jinja Shrine before a scramble by eventgoers to grab a lantern for themselves.
The lanterns and willow branches are thrown out to the crowd, which frantically battles to claim one for themselves. The prize is taken home and put up over the home's entrance as it is said to ward off summer ailments.