Odo Tenno Festival
8/15/2020
The Odo Tenno Festival features huge torches of straw, measuring about 2 meters in length, being carried lit around town by young townsmen barely clad in loincloths. See also lanterns laid in the Yahagigawa River, and the final fireworks show.
Events
The fireworks show is held at the Okuyahagi Onsen Hot Springs area annually on August 15th. The thunderous blasts echo across the valleys of the surrounding mountainous areas making for a thrilling experience, quite distinct from the fireworks events held on open areas or by the sea. Crowds of eager spectators gather at the grounds located in the Yahagigawa River's embankments downstream from the Odo Onsen Hot Springs area.
On the same day, the Odo Tenno Festival, a tradition carried on by the Odo townsfolk, is also held around the streets. Young townsmen wearing only a loincloth carry oversized torches made of straw, while running across the houses. Then there's the Toro Nagashi Lantern Laying, in which floating lanterns lit by the sacred fire of the torches are laid to float down the river. The fireworks show comes after that, with big explosions of color against the backdrop lit with the faint but numerous lights of floating lanterns in the Yahagigawa River, in a fantastic sight.
This event was originally held separately by Sasado and Odo areas. In 2006, the two fireworks festivals started to be held jointly, being reborn as "Okuyahagi Onsen Hot Springs Fireworks Festival".
Basic Information
Address | 〒444-2846 Odo-cho, Toyota-City |
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Fee | Free of charge |
Opening days / hours | 19:30-21:00 -Torches Procession 19:30 -Fireworks 20:15-21:00 |
Phone number | 0565-68-3653 (Asahi Tourism Association) |
Parking lot | Available, free of charge (cap. 300 cars) *: Due to limited availability, guests are kindly requested to use public transportation as best as possible. |
Restroom | Available |
Place | Odo-Town, Toyota-City; JA Aichi Toyota Branch Building; Yahagigawa River embankments |
Holding time | Annually on August 15th |
Access by Public Transportation | [Directions from Nagoya] ・From Nagoya Station on the Higashiyama subway line, go to Fushimi Station and transfer to the Tsurumai subway line (which connects to the Meitetsu Toyota Line from Akaike). Get off at Meitetsu Toyotashi Station. ・From Meitetsu Nagoya Station, take the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line to Chiryu Station. Transfer trains and get off at Meitetsu Toyotashi Station. ・From JR Nagoya Station, take the JR Chuo Main Line to Kozoji Station. Transfer to the Aichi Loop Line and get off at Shin-Toyota Station. *Click here to check transportation directions and fares in Toyota. http://michinavitoyota.jp/portal/map_en.html Use the Oiden Bus bound for Odo. |
Access by car | Approx. 30min (21.5km) northeastwards from Chikaraishi I.C. of the Sanage Green Road via Route 11. |
LINK | Asahi Tourism Association Web Site (Japanese) |