Main events through the year

Tradition has it that Oki bull sumo performances were first held to console the retired Emperor Gotoba, who had been banished to Oki after the Jokyu Rebellion in 1221. It is the bull sumo with the oldest history in Japan.

【Date】2nd Sunday in January (scheduled)
【Place】Oki Momo Dome (Ikeda)
【Fee】Admission free
【Inquiries】Tourism Department, Okinoshima-cho Town Office
TEL +81-8512-2-8575

In this stirring festival, a huge "tondo" (framework with the New Year's decorations) is set alight and falls burning into the sea. Then youths wearing just loincloths jump into the icy-cold sea and struggle with each other for a piece of sacred bamboo.

【Date】January 15. Framework is set alight about 8am.
【Place】Imazu Fishing Harbor
【Inquiries】Tourism Department, Okinoshima-cho Town Office
TEL +81-8512-2-8575

A regular festival held on March 28 every year. Its special feature is the momote archery ritual.This ritual presents an imposing spectacle, with the refined gestures of the leading performer who shoots arrows aimed at the mountains to the east and west while loudly shouting "Kan-no-Ya!".

【Date】March 28, 9am ~. （Caution）Momote ritual starts about 11:30am
【Place】Hanaike Shrine (Tsudo)
【Inquiries】Board of Education, Okinoshima-cho
TEL +81-8512-2-2126

Closed during the winter season, the Sasaki-ke Traditional Residence (built 1836) re-opens its doors in March.

【Date】3月1日～11月30日まで （補足）年中無休
【Fee】大人400円

The amazingly candle-shaped island of Rosoku-jima towers upward some 20 meters out of the sea.For the moments when the evening sun shines above it, this island looks exactly like a giant burning candle.Come see views of the island you can only get from a boat – and experience for yourself the artistry of its combination with the evening sun.

【Date】April to end of October. （Caution）Reservation required.
【Fee】 Adults 2,200 yen, elementary schoolchildren 1,100 yen
【Inquiries】Okinoshima Town Tourist Association
TEL +81-8512-2-0787

The Iguri Kites are Oki's harbinger of spring.These kites peculiar to Oki have been flown for over 160 years in celebration of the birth of a child or as a prayer for good health.

【Date】1st Sunday in April (scheduled)
【Place】To be decided
【Inquiries】Tourism Department, Okinoshima-cho Town Office
TEL +81-8512-2-8575

This event is held to calm the spirits of the mountain gods at the start of the mountain-climbing season.The highlight is the sash-band ritual at a shrine.Youths take hold of a large creeper and form themselves into a straight line beside a sacred tree. They then wind the creeper round the tree seven-and-a-half times at one go, to the accompaniment of shouting.

【Date】1st Sunday in April of every even-numbered Heisei year, about 10am ~
【Place】Oyama Shrine (Fuse)
【Inquiries】Board of Education, Okinoshima-cho
TEL +81-8512-2-2126

It is said that in the Edo Period, harvests were predicted from how well these yononaka cherry trees blossomed.The variety here is Edohigan, and the trees are ancient – said to be some 650 years old.A prefecture-designated natural monument.

【Viewing season】Early to mid April
【Place】mountains of Ganya district
【Inquiries】Board of Education, Okinoshima-cho
TEL +81-8512-2-2126 Okinoshima-cho Naka Branch Office TEL +81-8512-4-0002

This classic bugaku dance-and-music performance takes place on a stage temporarily erected in the grounds of the Oki Kokubun Temple on April 21. It descends from courtly bugaku that came over to Oki in the Heian Period.The seven dances – Sleeping Buddha, Lion Dance, Taiheiraku, Wheat-Firing Dance, Mountain Gods' Kitoku Dance, Dragon King Dance and Buddha Dance, breathe with the life of the Tenpyo era transmitted to the present day.

【Date】April 21, about 1pm ~
【Place】Oki Kokubun Temple grounds (Ikeda)
【Inquiries】Board of Education, Okinoshima-cho
TEL +81-8512-2-2126

During the Oki Rhododendron viewing season from the end of April to early May, ten thousand of these blooms can be seen flowering here in gorgeous concert.During Golden Week holidays, the festival features a diversity of events including open-air tea ceremonies, concerts and bull sumo.

【Date】Late April to early May (scheduled)
【Place】Goka Murakami-ke Oki Rhododendron Park (Kori)
【Inquiries】Local Development Section, Goka Branch Office, Okinoshima-cho Town Office
TEL +81-8512-5-2211

The highlight is the "Float-towing Ritual", a procession of boys towing a float decked out to resemble a tortoise.The festival also includes dedicatory events such as horseback archery, lion dancing, ogaku music-and-dance, and shrine maiden dance.

【Date】May 3 of every even-numbered Heisei year, about 11am ~
【Place】Mizuwakasu Shrine (Kori)
【Inquiries】Tourism Department, Okinoshima-cho Town Office
TEL +81-8512-2-8575

This tournament is an annual event that announces the opening of the bull sumo season in the Oki Islands.Tradition has it that Oki bull sumo performances were first held to console the retired Emperor Gotoba, who had been banished to Oki after the Jokyu Rebellion in 1221. It is the bull sumo with the oldest history in Japan.

【Date】Scheduled for May 4
【Place】Oki Momo Dome (Ikeda)
【Inquiries】Tourism Department, Okinoshima-cho Town Office
TEL +81-8512-2-8575

Shigesa dancers parade through downtown Saigo to the sound of Oki-shigesa-bushi songs (typical Oki folk-singing). It makes an overwhelmingly gorgeous sight.

【Date】Saturday May 9
【Place】Saigo Port
【Inquiries】Tourism Department, Okinoshima-cho Town Office
TEL +81-8512-2-8575

Participants compete with their skills in Oki-shigesa-bushi songs (typical Oki folk-singing) and shamisen accompaniment.

【Date】Sunday May 10, noon ~
【Place】Okinoshima Culture Hall
【Inquiries】Tourism Department, Okinoshima-cho Town Office
TEL +81-8512-2-8575

One of the Big Three Oki festivals. Eight sacred horses gallop all the way along a narrow approach road one after another. This ritual of "letting in the horses" is an impressive spectacle.esignated as an intangible folk-cultural asset by Shimane Prefecture.The ancient Tamawakasumikoto Shrine, which dates back over a thousand years and several centuries, is designated as an important cultural asset by the government.

【Date】June 5, "letting in the horses" about 2:30pm ~
【Place】Tamawakasumikoto Shrine grounds (Shimonishi)
【Inquiries】Board of Education, Okinoshima-cho
TEL +81-8512-2-2126

The gently-dignified Kumi Kagura is a tradition that strongly preserves the prayer-like character of sacred dancing.Featuring numerous items – Opening Dance, Shrine-maiden Dance, etc., the performance lasts throughout the night.Designated as an intangible folk-cultural asset by Shimane Prefecture.

【Date】July 26 of every odd-numbered Heisei year, about 10pm to next morning
（Supplement）Held on July 25 in every even-numbered Heisei year
【Place】Ise Mikoto Shrine (Kumi)
【Inquiries】Board of Education, Okinoshima-cho
TEL +81-8512-2-2126

This dance is thought to have been first performed to dedicate a new shrine of Misaki Shrine in March 1803.Tradition holds that the dance was devised jointly by the village headman and an exile.The name "Danjiri Dance" is a rare one even in this prefecture.

【Date】July 28, 2014, about 9am ~（Supplement）Held once every 3 years
【Place】Nearby Misaki Shrine (Higashi-machi)
【Inquiries】Board of Education, Okinoshima-cho
TEL +81-8512-2-2126

Dedicated to the Omine Shrine, this Kagura dancing is performed throughout the night.It is a form of Suki Kagura, and was originally called Mugi (Wheat) Kagura, danced while offerings of newly-harvested wheat were brought in one by one from every household.It was transmitted from the Murakami Shake (hereditary dance performers) of Togo to the local people, who keep it alive today.

【Date】August 14, about 8:30pm ~
【Place】Nishimura Shrine Kagura Hall (Nishimura)
【Inquiries】Board of Education, Okinoshima-cho
TEL +81-8512-2-2126

This is the bull sumo tournament with the longest history in Oki.Besides the actual fights between bulls, the event features various valuable cultural items inherited from the past, including the customary preparations starting the day before the tournament and the de-iwai ceremony.Designated as an intangible folk-cultural asset by Shimane Prefecture.

【Date】September 1, about 1pm to 4pm
【Place】Sayama Bull Sumo Ring (Kaminishi)
【Inquiries】Tourism Department, Okinoshima-cho Town Office
TEL +81-8512-2-8575

The course lets runners experience the coastal breezes while viewing Tsuma Bay and Dozen Island.It's a more-the-merrier event, welcoming fitness runners, parents running with their children, and others besides.

【Date】Late September, 10am ~ (scheduled)
【Place】Tsuma Island Park (Tsudo)
【Inquiries】Okinoshima-cho Sports Association (inside Board of Education, Okinoshima-cho)
TEL +81-8512-2-2126

This closing tournament of the Oki bull sumo season is held as a dedicatory event for the Ichiyagadake Shrine.It ranks alongside the Hassaku Tournament as a typically Oki-style bull sumo tournament.

【Date】October 13, afternoon (scheduled)
【Place】Ichiyagadake Bull Sumo Ring (Kitagata)
【Inquiries】Goka Branch Office, Okinoshima-cho Town Office
TEL +81-8512-5-2211

This is based on the kagura of the neighboring Kumi district and incorporates the same Ochi dance styles.Public performances of Shiro Kagura as dedicatory dancing have been given on Kitaya Shrine Festival Day since around 1965.

【Date】Biennially on October 17, about 8pm ~
【Place】Kitaya Shrine (Shiro)
【Inquiries】Board of Education, Okinoshima-cho
TEL +81-8512-2-2126

Tradition tells us that this festival originated in the Kamakura Period. At the festival site, the sun-god who is worshiped at the Hachioji shrine in Ganya is united with the moon-god who is worshiped at the Ichinomori Shrine in Nakamura.Designated as an intangible folk-cultural asset by Shimane Prefecture.

【Date】October 19 in every odd-numbered Heisei year, about 11am ~
【Place】Grounds of former Nakamura Elementary School (Nakamura)
【Inquiries】Board of Education, Okinoshima-cho
TEL +81-8512-2-2126