Makura Matsuri (Pillow Festival) at Hine Shrine

About

Hine Shrine in Izumisano holds its grand annual festival with an eve rite on May 4 and the main festival on May 5. The eye-catching feature is the makura-nobori: bamboo poles about five meters long hung with colorful decorated pillows. After being purified on May 4, the banners travel through the parish with the portable shrine on May 5, carried on bearers' backs as they sing the Gosha Ondo on the way to the Nagataki otabisho. Young women from the year's host district make the pillows by hand, wishing for children, safe childbirth or a good match, and the pillows return to their makers as charms afterward. Hosting rotates among Hineno, Kaminogo and Nagataki. The pillows are said to go back to a young wife who tied her offered pillow to a banner while praying for a child. Once held by the lunar calendar, the festival has been on May 5 since 1980.

Sources

• OfficialHine Shrine hine-jinja.jp
• OfficialHine Shrine hine-jinja.jp
• OfficialOsaka Convention & Tourism Bureau osaka-info.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.

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