The "Rice Planting Festival," a Shinto ritual praying for a bountiful harvest throughout the year, was held on June 10, 2026, at Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City. Under the dazzling sunlight, participants dressed in crimson sashes and straw hats planted rice seedlings in the shrine's sacred rice field.
The rice seedlings, grown from seeds sown in the field in April, are planted every year on June 10th. Approximately 180 kilograms of rice are expected to be harvested at the "Rice Harvesting Festival" in October, and these will be offered to the gods at the "Niiname Festival" in November.
On this day, around 2 PM, the participants carried the chest containing the rice seedlings offered to the gods back to the sacred rice field. Four Kagura dancers, dressed in Heian period costumes called "kazami," performed the Otamai dance. As gagaku music played, 15 people planted rice seedlings by hand.
This year, approximately 50 students from the nearby Inari Elementary School, including third and sixth graders, came to observe.
