The Iwashimizu Festival, an imperial festival, was held at the Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine in Yawata, Yawata City, Kyoto Prefecture, from the early hours of September 15, 2024. About 500 people dressed in traditional attire walked along the dark approach to the shrine with the enshrined deity, Hachiman-no-Okami, praying for peace and happiness.
The Iwashimizu Festival originated from the Iwashimizu Hojoe festival, which began in 863, and in 948 became an imperial festival in which the emperor's messenger delivers offerings. It is considered one of the three major imperial festivals, along with the Aoi Festival in Kyoto City and the Kasuga Festival in Nara City.
The ritual began at 2 a.m. at the main shrine on the mountain. At around 3 a.m., three Gohoren Mikoshi portable shrines carrying Hachiman-no-Okami set off, accompanied by about 500 people, including priests and attendants called "jinin." Relying only on the light of torches and paper lanterns, they headed for the Tongu Shrine at the foot of the mountain in about an hour.
At the Hobei-no-gi ceremony held at the temporary shrine, offerings of goheimotsu were made by His Majesty the Emperor. An imperial envoy then recited a prayer from the Emperor, praying for the prosperity of the nation and the happiness of its people. As the sky gradually brightened, attendees watched the solemn progress of the ritual. Afterwards, a "release ceremony" was held in the nearby Hojo River, in which eels and loaches were released.
