Misasa Jinsho

Misasa no Jinsho: A Thunderous Wisteria-Vine Tug-of-War in the Mountains of Tottori

Deep in the valleys of western Japan, in a small hot-spring town nestled beside a sacred mountain, a festival unfolds each May that has no exact parallel anywhere else in the country. On a lantern-lit street in Misasa Onsen, hundreds of townspeople gather around two enormous ropes — each roughly 80 meters long and weighing around two tons — braided entirely from wisteria vines harvested from the slopes of Mount Mitoku. Then, to the boom of great drums and the cheers of visitors from across Japan and abroad, the town splits in two and pulls. This is Misasa no Jinsho, one of Japan's most distinctive folk ceremonies and a designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan.

A Living Tradition Rooted in Sacred Mountains

Misasa no Jinsho (三朝のジンショ) is a Boys' Day rope-pulling ritual held in the town of Misasa, Tottori Prefecture, as the climax of the Hanayu Matsuri (花湯まつり), or "Flower Hot-Spring Festival." The word "Jinsho" (陣所) refers to the great tug-of-war itself, and locals have been performing it for generations as a way to give thanks for the hot springs, to pray for the coming year, and to reaffirm the bonds between people, nature, and the divine.

The ritual takes place over two days. On May 3, residents gather beside the Mitoku River to weave the massive ropes — a labor-intensive communal process known as tsunakarami (綱からみ). A male rope and a female rope are prepared, each hand-braided from freshly cut wisteria vines by around a hundred volunteers. On the evening of May 4, the finished ropes are carried to the center of the hot-spring town, joined together at their thick "heads," and pulled with tremendous force by two teams until one side prevails.

The rope is not ordinary. Wisteria vine (fujikazura) is tough, fibrous, and heavy, and the act of gathering it from the mountain also serves as a traditional form of forest maintenance. The choice of this material, rather than the rice straw used almost everywhere else in Japan, is what makes Misasa no Jinsho truly unique.

Why It Was Designated a National Cultural Property

On March 11, 2009, Misasa no Jinsho was designated a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property (重要無形民俗文化財) by the Japanese government. Rope-pulling rituals connected to the Boys' Day seasonal festival are widely distributed along the Sea of Japan coast, but cultural authorities recognized that the Misasa version stood apart for one fundamental reason: its exclusive use of wisteria vines.

According to the official designation, the practice of braiding the great rope entirely from fujikazura vines is not found in any other region of Japan. This unusual material, combined with the distinctive ritual structure — the male-and-female pairing of the ropes, the "kaseki" hardwood pin that locks them together, and the use of the result to divine the fortunes of the coming year — reflects an exceptional preservation of local faith, agricultural cosmology, and community practice.

The event had already been recognized in 1999 as an intangible folk cultural property warranting formal documentation, and its 2009 elevation to full Important Cultural Property status acknowledged its value as an irreplaceable testimony to how Japanese communities have historically fused labor, worship, and natural resources into a single living ceremony.

Highlights of the Jinsho

The most spectacular moment arrives after nightfall on May 4, when the two ropes — known as the "mesu-zuna" (female rope) on the west and the "o-zuna" (male rope) on the east — are carried along the town's main street to a symbolic boundary gate called the En-mon. As the ropes are dragged forward, the young men of each side slam the thick heads (tsubo-guchi) repeatedly against the ground, a rhythmic percussion believed to drive away misfortune and purify the town.

Once the ropes meet, teams of young men lift them vertically into the air so that individuals can ride the standing ropes and maneuver the tips into alignment. After several rounds of jostling and intertwining, the male rope's tip is inserted into the female rope's tip and secured with a thick oak pin known as the kaseki. At that precise moment, the great paper lanterns above the gate are extinguished — and the pulling begins.

Local belief holds that if the eastern side wins, it will be a year of bountiful harvests; if the western side triumphs, commerce and business will flourish. Either way, the ritual ends in shared celebration, with townspeople and travelers mingling steaming under the spring night. For visitors, few experiences better capture the communal energy of a Japanese rural festival than being part of the crowd that surges around a rope heavier than a truck, braided from mountain vines by hand.

Exploring Misasa: Japan Heritage and Healing Waters

Misasa Onsen is one of the most storied hot-spring towns in Japan. Its waters are among the richest in radon in the world, and legend traces its discovery back about 850 years, when a retainer of the warrior Minamoto no Yoshitomo is said to have been guided to a hidden spring by a white wolf on Mount Mitoku. In 2015, the town and its sacred mountain were designated Japan Heritage #1 under the theme "Land of Purification of the Six Roots and Healing of the Six Senses" (六根清浄と六感治癒の地). Within this Japan Heritage story, Misasa no Jinsho represents the "sight" (観) dimension — the visual, visceral awe of witnessing the townspeople and nature move as one.

A short drive from the hot-spring district rises Mount Mitoku, home to Sanbutsu-ji Temple and the famed National Treasure Nageiredo Hall, a small wooden hall built into the face of a sheer cliff and considered "the most dangerous national treasure in Japan" to reach on foot. Together with the Shirakabe Dozo-gun (white-walled warehouse district) in neighboring Kurayoshi and the scenic Ojikakei Gorge, Misasa offers visitors a compact but richly layered itinerary of temples, folk culture, and natural beauty.

Planning Your Visit

Misasa no Jinsho is held on May 3 and 4 every year as part of Hanayu Matsuri. The rope weaving on May 3 runs throughout the day beside the Mitoku River, and the great tug-of-war on May 4 usually begins around 8:30 p.m. after an evening parade of lanterns and fireworks. Because the main event spans the streets of a compact hot-spring town, staying overnight at one of the local ryokan is the recommended way to enjoy the festival fully.

Misasa Onsen is roughly a 30-minute drive or bus ride from JR Kurayoshi Station on the San'in Main Line, which is accessible from Tottori, Matsue, or via express trains from Okayama. The Golden Week holiday period (late April to early May) draws crowds to the region, so early reservations are advisable. Visitors should confirm the current year's schedule with the local tourism association before traveling.