Kashima Shrine Holds Once-in-12-Years Ofune Festival

Sep 02, 2026 | News On Japan

IBARAKI - Kashima Shrine in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, held its Ofune Festival on September 2, with a spectacular fleet of more than 100 brightly decorated boats sailing along rivers and across lakes in a tradition staged once every 12 years during the Year of the Horse.

The festival, a major periodic celebration at the shrine, transformed the waterways of the region into a colorful procession as spectators lining the riverbanks cheered the passing fleet.

The Ofune Festival is a tradition said to have been handed down for about 1,700 years and is regarded as one of the largest ceremonial spectacles in the area's historic network of rivers and lakes.

Source: Kyodo

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