Kuwana Ishitori Festival Float Event

Kuwana Ishitori Festival Float Event: A Summer Festival of Gongs and Drums

The Kuwana Ishitori Festival Float Event (桑名石取祭の祭車行事) is a summer festival held each year for Kuwana Soja shrine in Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture, and was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 2007.

According to Cultural Heritage Online, carts called saisha come out from each parish district of the old castle town and are pulled through the streets to the furious accompaniment of gongs and drums, in honour of Kuwana Soja, the town's chief guardian shrine. It is classed as a custom (festival and belief), and the preservation body is the Kuwana Ishitori Festival Preservation Society.

In 2016 it was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage as one of Japan's float festivals (Yama, Hoko, Yatai).

Why It Is Protected

Cultural Heritage Online explains that the event was originally a summer purification, in which clean stones were gathered to purify the festival ground, and that this became a festival. The name ishitori, stone-taking, comes from that rite.

Today the parish districts take part in 11 groups, each sending out floats and competing in their music. That this urban festival custom has been carried on district by district is the basis of its designation.

What to Look For

According to Kuwana City, up to 40 floats carry gongs and drums, and the sound of them all struck at once overwhelms onlookers, earning it the nickname of Japan's noisiest festival. On the main day the floats process to Kuwana Soja (Kasuga Shrine), passing along the old Tokaido road.

Some floats bear carvings by Tatekawa Washiro Tomishige or ornaments by Takamura Koun and are of real historical value. Look at the carving and decoration as well as listening to the din.

Visiting

The festival takes place in early August each year; in 2025 it was held on August 2 and 3. Dates and times vary, so check the official festival information or Kuwana City's tourism site.

Kuwana Soja is about 20 minutes on foot from Kuwana Station (JR, Kintetsu and Yoro Railway). Temporary parking is provided during the festival, but public transport is advisable. When watching from the roadside, keep clear of the floats' path.