One of Morioka's unique traditional events is "Chaguchagu Umako," which is held just before summer arrives. During the event, decorative working horses carry small children on their backs and parade along a 15-kilometer route starting at Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine [lit. "Shrine of the God of Horses Passing the Evil (formerly called "Komagata-jinjya"* which also means "Shrine of the Horse God"), Takizawa Village.** This event attracts many spectators every year.
The name "Chaguchagu" is derived from the onomatopoeia of cracking sounds of the gorgeous horse ornaments in the procession: It is the harmony of the big "Nariwas" (Ringing Rings) and many small and big bells attached to the ornaments. Listen to the "Chaguchagu" sound [(c) Iwate Branch of NTT East Japan: Hello Net Japan from Iwate].
This event suggests the intimate relationship between the horses and people: Until recently many farmers have lived with their horses in the same buildings called "Nambu Magari-ya," the traditional L-shaped farmers' houses particularly seen in this region formerly called the "Nambu" country. For farmers, horses have been helpful workers while Samurai warriors treated them as war supplies. Since the Nambu clan particularly encouraged farmers to breed horses, this area is particularly famous for producing excellent horses during the Edo Period (1603-1867). It was said that the farmers in this area owned one horse per 5 tanpo (1 tanpo = o.245 acres): You would soon recognize how rich each farmer was if you counted how many horses they had during the Edo Period. The Nambu clan carefully selected some wonderful horses and presented and sold them to many powerful lords including the Tokugawa Shogunate for generations. In such occasion, the breeders were honorably allowed to take their horses decorated with gorgeous ornaments to the city centre of Morioka, the castle town of the Nambu clan. Thus this horse parade was said to begin, although there is a divergence for the exact date of the origin.
The parade, of about 100 horses with 100 child-riders accompanied by their parents, relatives, neighbors and friends, originally held on May 5 in the Lunar Calendar (around June 11) in the rice-planting season. As the festival has recently acquired the nationwide fame after being designated as a national immaterial cultural property of manners and customs in January 1978, it is now held on the second Saturday of June since 2001 for spectators' convenience. The parade starts at 9:30 a.m. from Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine, Sotokubo, Ukai, Takizawa Village and ends at c.13:55 at Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine, 13-1 Machiman-cho, Morioka: The procession passes through Takizawa Village Office at c.10:05, Morioka Prison for under-18 year criminals at c.10:40, Iizaka Bridge at c.11:55, Yugawase Bridge at c.12:05, Zaimoku-cho Street at c.12:10-12:30, Kaiun-bashi Bridge at c.12:45, O-dori Street at c.12:50, "Ishiwari-zakura" (the Rock Splitting Cherry Tree) near Prefecture Office at c.13:25, Hachiman-cho at c.13:50. Some popular points to see include Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine, Zaimoku-cho area, O-dori Street and Nakatsu-gawa River area.
The origin of the festival can date back to
*There are a mountain called "(Akita) Koma-ga-take" near Lake Tazawa, which can be seen from Iwate, although there are so many mountains named "Koma-ga-take" in many famous places for horses all over Japan. The present Chinese characters suggest a "horse-shaped mountain" but originally it used the different Chinese character which suggested "Korea." The name Koma-ga-take is a remain of the ancient Japanese people's longing for the Korean Peninsula where was supposed to be a paradise.
**Takizawa "Village" has the biggest population of Japan for a village: 52,787 (May 31, 2005). So this "village" is not what you usually imagine from the word: It is a residential area adjoining to Morioka City.
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| This area (Sotokubo, Ukai, Takizawa Village) was originally one of the Nambu clan's pastures located east of the famous Koiwai Farm and southeast of Mt. Iwate. Every year on the second Saturday of June, people of Takizawa and its environs come together to worship O-Sozen-sama Shrine. After elaborately decorating their horses, the farmers begin a 15 km parade from this shrine to Hachiman-gu Shrine in the west of the city center of Morioka.
This area had been said to be ruled by the demons of mountains. According to the two legends about the origin of "Sozen-sama," when the two farmers engaged in rice-planting in different places in different times, their horses suddenly rushed towards "Oni-Furusato" (lit. "Demons' Old Country") and stopped in the middle of the area, there heard a voice from the cloud, "I am Sozen. From now on I stay here and avert a calamity for horses and other cattle." Sozen lived in Mt. Koma-ga-take, render service to agriculture and reclamation work. After his death, people built a shrine for him and began to worship him as the God of Agriculture. In 1870, Sozen-jinjya gained the title of "Komagata-jinjya" but the original building was burned down in 1891: Thus they moved the shrine to the present place. In fact, my road map (1998) still notes this shrine as "Komagata-jinjya." |
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(Saturday 1 June) Easter view of Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine, Sotokubo, Ukai, Takizawa Village | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Stone Gate (Outer Torii) of Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Red Gate (Inner Torii) of Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Sacred Horses' Hall, Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Inscription stone of "Komagata-jinjya," Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The left "Komainu" (a stone figure of a Korean dog guarding either side of the entrance to a shrine) and "Hon-do" (Main Hall), Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine | |
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(Saturday 1 June) "Hon-do" (Main Hall) of Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine: A horse and a boy comes to worship the god. | |
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(Saturday 1 June) A southern view of "Hon-do" (Main Hall), Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine | |
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(Saturday 1 June) ?"Gassan" jinjya Shrine in the precincts of Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Memorial Stone for comforting the local souls of those who died in battle in the precincts of Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine: It seems that some ceremony for the dead is held at the same day of Chaguchagu Umako. | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Ready for the parade, Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Ready for the parade, Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Ready for the parade, Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya Shrine | |
| Near Onikoshi Sozen-jinjya located at the foot of Mt. Iwate | ||
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade has just started! Ukai, Takizawa in the background of Mt. Iwate (only if the sun shines!) | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, Ukai, Takizawa | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, Ukai, Takizawa | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, Ukai, Takizawa | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, Ukai, Takizawa | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, Ukai, Takizawa | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, Ukai, Takizawa | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, Ukai, Takizawa | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, Ukai, Takizawa | |
| A major shopping area of Morioka. | ||
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, O-dori Street, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, O-dori Street, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, O-dori Street, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, O-dori Street, Morioka | |
| A major shopping area of Morioka between O-dori Street and Hachiman-cho. | ||
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade, Nakano-hashi Bridge, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade in front of the Nakanohashi Branch of Bank of Iwate, Nakanohashi Bridge, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade in front of the Nakanohashi Branch of Bank of Iwate, Nakanohashi Bridge, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade in front of the old 90th Bank (now "Morioka Takuboku / Kenji Seishun-kan" Museum), 1-1-26 Nakanohashi-dori, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade in front of the old 90th Bank (now "Morioka Takuboku / Kenji Seishun-kan" Museum), 1-1-26 Nakanohashi-dori, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade in front of the old 90th Bank (now "Morioka Takuboku / Kenji Seishun-kan" Museum), 1-1-26 Nakanohashi-dori, Morioka | |
| The shrine town (approach) to Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine | ||
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade in Hachiman-cho, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) The Chaguchagu Umako parade in Hachiman-cho, Morioka | |
| "Hachiman" is the Nambu clan's patron saint; they are said to be the descendents of the Gen-ji clan according to their genealogy. Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine was called Hatomori Hachiman-gu Shrine among the Hito clan. It was restored by the first lord of Nambu, Mitsuyuki, about 800 years ago. | ||
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(Saturday 1 June) The goal of the parade: Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine, 13-1 Hachiman-cho, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Red Gate (the second Torii), Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine, 13-1 Hachiman-cho, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) "Hon-do" (Main Hall), Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine, 13-1 Hachiman-cho, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Participants of the parade feel very relaxed now: Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine, 13-1 Hachiman-cho, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Participants of the parade feel very relaxed now: Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine, 13-1 Hachiman-cho, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) A horse feels very relaxed now: Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine, 13-1 Hachiman-cho, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) A young horse feels very relaxed now: Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine, 13-1 Hachiman-cho, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) A horse feels very relaxed now: Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine, 13-1 Hachiman-cho, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) A horse feels very relaxed now: Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine, 13-1 Hachiman-cho, Morioka | |
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(Saturday 1 June) Participants of the parade feel very relaxed now: Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine, 13-1 Hachiman-cho, Morioka | |
| Under Nakanohashi Bridge, viewed from Nakano-hashi Bridge | ||
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(Saturday 1 June) Trailers are waiting for the honored horses down by the Nakatsu-gawa River |
