Okkawa Festival | Portal Website for Float Festivals in Aichi Prefecture

: Although the Okkawa Festival is currently held around the spring equinox, it was originally held on the 15th and 16th of the new year of the old calendar (around early February at present). This was the coldest time of year, and the piercing wind with a light snowfall called "Itokiri Kaze" (wind of cutting threads) was a typical feature of Okkawa.

In the Okkawa Festival, the deity rides on the portable shrine and goes from the Okkawa Hachiman-sha Shrine to the Wakamiya-sha Shrine, where it is kept during the festival, and returns on the next day. During this time, shrine parishioners play festival music with drums and pull four floats around in order to guard and protect the deity. As the "Okkawamura Sairei Emaki" drawn in 1755 suggests, this style has been established in Okkawa since long ago, and has been passed down to this day.

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Date	3/17/2018 to 3/18/2018
Venue	Tonomachi 97, Handa City, etc.
Phone number	0569-84-0689（Handa City Tourism Division） 0569-32-3264（Handa City Tourist Association）

Access by public transport	Alight at JR Taketoyo Line Okkawa Station, and walk for approx. 20 minutes.
Access by car	Approx. 15 minutes to the east from Chitahanto Road Handa-Chuo I.C.