I recently attended the eve of Owari Tsushima Tenno Festival held at Tennogawa Park as part of our office event. Tsushima Shrine and Tennogawa Park are located in Tsushima City, Aichi Prefecture. The Tenno Festival had been canceled or held on a reduced scale for the past five years, but this year, a sightseeing pier was set up and the festival was held as usual. For the first time in 11 years, our clients, staff, and their families gathered at the Tenno Festival’s sightseeing pier and had a wonderful time of conversation and food.
The Tenno Festival is considered one of the three largest river festivals in Japan and one of the three largest lantern festivals in Japan. It has a great scale, history, and venerable tradition.
The Tenno Festival has been held for nearly 600 years as a festival of Tsushima Shrine, and includes events such as Saichidate, Funawake, Chigo (Children) Uchi-mawashi, Yoimatsuri (evening festival), and Asamatsuri (morning festival).
The origin of Tenno Festival is unknown, although it is said to have been based on the Jinryo ritual of Tsushima Shrine during the Muromachi period (1336-1573). At that time, Tsushima had five villages (Komenoza, Imaichiba, Raftaba, Shimomizo, and Tsutsumishita), which were rich in economic power, and the festival was grandly held on this basis. Nobunaga Oda, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, and the feudal lord of Owari were among the visitors to the Tenno Festival.
The Tenno Festival was designated as a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Asset in 1980. Furthermore, the Tenno Festival was registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016.
In addition, “Owari Tsushima Tenno Matsuri” is registered as Japanese Trademark No. 6117611.
During the evening festival, more than 500 lanterns are displayed and five Maki-wara boats are rowed across the Tenno River.
At Kurumakawado, the straw boats are lit by lanterns and set sail for the Otabisho.
The straw boats are magnificent, and the sight of the lanterns, emblems, and lights shimmering on the surface of the water is impressive.
The Owari Tsushima Tenno Festival was atmospheric, and I felt the history and atmosphere of several eras from the ancient times of Japan to the present day.(Raspberry)