Gongan Shinji (Bamboo-Splitting Festival)

About

Sugo Isobe Shrine in the Daishoji area of Kaga holds this rough-and-tumble rite every year; locals have long called it Gongan-san or the bamboo-splitting festival. Modelled on the mythical clash between the brother gods Yamasachihiko and Umisachihiko, it is said to keep the martial spirit alive. Before the day, a giant rope shaped like a serpent is made and roughly 300 to 400 green bamboo poles are gathered. Then young men dressed in white charge into the precincts and beat the bamboo against the stone steps and paving until it shatters. When nearly all of it is split, the rope serpent is hauled out of the worship hall and flung from a bridge into the Daishoji River. Onlookers are free to take pieces of the split bamboo home, and kites made with it are said to fly especially well.

Sources

• OfficialHot Ishikawa Travel Net (Ishikawa Prefecture Tourism League) www.hot-ishikawa.jp

Last checked: Oct 11, 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

• Higashifutakuchi Bunya Puppet Theater "Deku no Mai"
• Suzu Anglerfish Festival
• Wajima Aenokaze Winter Festival