On April 10, 2025, the annual Wasabi Festival was held at Ashiu Kumano Gongen Shrine in Ashiu, Miyama-cho, Nantan City, Kyoto Prefecture. The festival is based on a custom in which local residents would abstain from wasabi from New Year's Day until the festival, praying for the safety of bear hunting that took place in winter. After offering wasabi harvested in the forests of Ashiu, the residents enjoyed it pickled in soy sauce, feeling the arrival of spring with its refreshing spiciness.