Zairen, a Child from Western Owari

Kodomo Zairen: A Children's Summer Ritual in Western Owari

In the lush lowlands along the lower Kiso River in western Owari, Aichi Prefecture, summer brings a unique folk tradition known as Kodomo Zairen (子供ザイレン). From July through August each year, children gather to build temporary shrines from reeds and straw, fashion enormous serpent effigies, and illuminate the night sky with pyramids of glowing paper lanterns. This centuries-old ritual, rooted in water deity worship and the Tenno faith tradition of warding off epidemics, stands as one of the most remarkable children's folk customs surviving in modern Japan.

Selected in 2017 as one of Japan's nationally recognized intangible folk cultural properties requiring documentation and preservation measures, Kodomo Zairen offers a rare glimpse into a world where children once governed their own sacred rituals — organizing, preparing, and performing the entire ceremony with minimal adult intervention.

What Is Kodomo Zairen?

The word "Zairen" is believed to be a dialectal corruption of "sairei" (祭礼), meaning festival or ritual ceremony. While most communities call it Kodomo Zairen, some villages refer to the event as Omiyoshi-san or Omikoshi-san, after the reed shrines or the materials used to build them.

Historically, Kodomo Zairen was the exclusive domain of boys aged 5 to 15, organized into groups called kodomo-gumi (children's associations) or kodomo-renchū (children's companies). The eldest boys, given titles like Oyabun (boss) or Oyakata (master), took charge of all preparations. Several days before the event, the children would gather at a community hall — or, in earlier times, at the home of an older boy — to prepare materials, collect funds from the neighborhood, and sleep together in a practice called gasshuku (communal lodging).

In recent years, girls have also begun participating, reflecting broader social changes while preserving the essential character of a festival organized and led by young people.

Why Was Kodomo Zairen Selected as a Cultural Property?

Kodomo Zairen was designated in March 2017 as a nationally selected intangible folk cultural property under the criterion that it represents a typical example of the foundational living culture of the Japanese people. Several factors contributed to its recognition.

First, the ritual embodies a convergence of water deity worship and Tenno faith — the belief in Gozu Tennō, the ox-headed celestial king associated with epidemic prevention — that was once widespread throughout the Owari region. The proximity of the Kiso River, historically prone to devastating floods, made prayers for water safety an existential concern for these communities.

Second, Kodomo Zairen is an exceptionally rare example of a children's autonomous ritual. In most Japanese folk traditions, adults control every aspect of ceremony and performance. Here, children historically organized and executed the entire event themselves, with a hierarchical age-based structure determining roles and even the types of fireworks each child was permitted to use.

Third, the ritual's connection to Tsushima Shrine — one of Japan's foremost centers of Tenno worship, rivaling Kyoto's Yasaka Shrine — reveals deep ties to the broader religious landscape of the Owari region. Many communities timed their Kodomo Zairen to coincide with the Tsushima Tenno Festival or scheduled it one week afterward, and some sent representatives to receive sacred talismans from the shrine.

The Ritual: Reed Shrines, Straw Serpents, and Lantern Pyramids

While practices vary from village to village, the essential elements of Kodomo Zairen remain remarkably consistent across the region.

Regional Variations and Highlights

The beauty of Kodomo Zairen lies in the rich variation from community to community, each adding its own distinctive customs to the shared framework.

In the Tōjō district of Inazawa City's Heiwa area, children craft a straw serpent decorated with vegetables and wildflowers, suspended between two waterways near Hachiman Shrine. At the Imamura district, a dragon deity effigy is built over a canal, and children parade through the village visiting every local shrine before engaging in a joyful water-splashing ritual.

Some communities incorporate children's sumo wrestling on straw-ring platforms built in shrine precincts, while others hold hyakumanben — a Buddhist prayer ceremony where participants pass an enormous rosary in a circle — inside temple halls. These additional elements reflect the syncretic nature of Japanese folk religion, where Shinto, Buddhist, and local beliefs intertwine seamlessly.

The Connection to Tsushima Shrine and Tenno Faith

Kodomo Zairen cannot be fully understood without considering its relationship to Tsushima Shrine and the broader Tenno faith tradition. Located in nearby Tsushima City, Tsushima Shrine has been one of the two great centers of Gozu Tennō worship in Japan since ancient times. The Tsushima Tenno Festival, held every July, is one of Japan's three great river festivals and was designated a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016.

The Tenno faith centered on prayers to ward off summer epidemics — cholera, dysentery, and other waterborne diseases that thrived in the hot, humid climate of the Nōbi Plain. Kodomo Zairen shares this protective purpose, and many communities explicitly linked their observance to the Tsushima Shrine calendar, treating the children's ritual as a local complement to the grand Tenno Festival.

Visiting Kodomo Zairen Today

Kodomo Zairen ceremonies take place across multiple communities in western Owari during July and August. Because specific dates and locations vary by community, visitors are advised to contact the local municipal board of education in advance. Key municipalities where the tradition persists include Aisai City, Ama City, Inazawa City, Yatomi City, and Tsushima City.

The western Owari region is easily accessible from Nagoya, with most communities reachable within 30 to 60 minutes by train or car. The area is characterized by flat alluvial plains, winding waterways, and vast rice paddies — a quintessential rural Japanese landscape that provides the perfect backdrop for this ancient summer ritual.

If your visit coincides with late July, consider combining your trip with the spectacular Tsushima Tenno Festival at Tennōgawa Park, where boats adorned with hundreds of lanterns glide across the water in one of Japan's most visually stunning summer celebrations.

Nearby Attractions

The western Owari area offers several additional destinations worth exploring alongside Kodomo Zairen.

• Tsushima Shrine (津島神社) — The historic center of Tenno faith in eastern Japan, with a beautiful wooded precinct and important cultural properties.
• Tennōgawa Park (天王川公園) — Famous for its wisteria trellis in spring and the Tsushima Tenno Festival in summer; the park surrounds a scenic pond that was once part of the Kiso River system.
• Kiso Sansen National Government Park (木曽三川公園) — A sprawling riverside park at the confluence of the Kiso, Nagara, and Ibi rivers, offering panoramic views, cycling paths, and seasonal flower displays.
• Sobue Ginkgo Festival (祖父江イチョウ祭り) — In autumn, the town of Sobue in Inazawa City transforms into a golden wonderland with over 10,000 ginkgo trees.