Otsu Festival Parade Gets UNESCO Approval

Dec 14, 2025 | News On Japan

SHIGA, Dec 14, 2025 (News On Japan) - Otsu’s centuries-old festival tradition has been approved for inscription on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, marking a significant recognition of the cultural and communal value of the Otsu Festival’s Hikiyama parade.

UNESCO has decided to add four additional Japanese traditions, including Otsu’s Hikiyama procession, to its category of Mountain, Float and Pavilion Festivals, a group that highlights regional events built around elaborate floats and long-preserved community rituals.

The Otsu Festival, already designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property by the Japanese government, has been celebrated since the Edo period and was praised for playing an essential role in shaping and sustaining the local community.

Furuya Hiroshi, chairman of the Otsu Festival Preservation Society, said the registration places the tradition on an even larger global stage, adding that people around the world will now see what generations of predecessors have carried on for hundreds of years, and that this responsibility must continue unchanged.

Within Shiga Prefecture, this marks the second festival to receive UNESCO intangible cultural heritage status.

Source: KTV NEWS

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