Ingo Hyotan (Gion Festival at Omiya Shrine)

About

Every June 15, Omiya Shrine in Yamaga, the shrine behind the Yamaga Lantern Festival, holds its Gion festival. It is the annual rite of Yasaka Shrine, the Gion deity housed on the east side of the grounds, and people know it as Ingo Hyotan after the charm sold that day: a little rice-flour figure of a puppy clinging to a gourd, painted and stuck on a bamboo skewer. Push it into the lintel above a doorway at home and it is said to keep sickness and bad luck away for a year. Nobody is sure where the name came from, but one tale says that when an epidemic struck in the Edo period and the Gion deity was invited from Kyoto, a puppy appeared out of nowhere and trailed the procession. Yamaga also calls the day Hatsukatabira, when people put on their summer yukata for the first time, and the shrine fills with visitors wishing for good health.

Sources

• OfficialOmiya Shrine oomiya.pigboat.jp
• OfficialKumamoto Prefecture (Kumamoto Culture Site) kumamoto.guide

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

• Amakusa Iris Festival