Sone Tenmangu Autumn Festival

About

Sone Tenmangu in Takasago, a shrine dedicated to the scholar Sugawara no Michizane, saves its biggest celebration of the year for this two-day festival. The futon yatai steal the show: colorful floats weighing close to two tons, their roofs piled with cushions whose corners sweep upward, are jostled against one another by their bearers until the grounds reach fever pitch, and after dark the lit-up floats glow against the night. Two of the rituals are well known. In Takewari, men slam bamboo poles over 10 m long, hung with banners, against the ground until they split. In the Hitotsumono rite, a child with the character for eight drawn on the forehead and a flower hat trimmed with copper pheasant feathers rides into the shrine on horseback like a figure from a picture scroll. A mask-hanging ritual and sumo offered to the deity also take place, and around 200 stalls set up in the grounds.

Sources

• OfficialSone Tenmangu www.tenmangu.net
• OfficialTakasago City Public Relations and Tourism Division www.city.takasago.lg.jp
• Reference令和8年度 秋季例祭 行程表（曽根天満宮） www.tenmangu.net

Last checked: Oct 10, 2026. Event information is based on official announcements, but changes may not always be reflected here. Please check each official website for accurate details.

Other events this month

• Sakoshi Boat Festival
• Nada Fighting Festival (Matsubara Hachiman Shrine Autumn Festival)
• Kinosaki Autumn Festival (Shisho Shrine Annual Festival)