Otaue Rice Planting Festival
June 13th, 2008 by Carolyn ToddWhen: June 14th from 1300
Where: Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine, Osaka
Access: Sumiyoshi Taisha Station, Nankai-Dentetsu line
Cost: Free
This rice planting festival takes place at Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine in Sumiyoshi, Osaka. Rice and its cultivation are obviously a vital component of Japanese life. The βOtaueβ in the title refers to the process of transferring rice seedlings from nurseries and planting them out in rice paddies.
At this festival, the traditions are respected and the planting is carried out with great ceremony, from the oxen ploughing the fields to the singing and dancing by costumed women, which is said to promote the growth of the seedlings.
The event is accompanied by a parade of samurai in full ceremonial dress.
