 | This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Talks about plans for 2022 in future tense in lede. (June 2023) |
| Onbashira Festival Shikinen Zōei Mihashira Taisai (式年造営御柱大祭) | |
|---|---|
 A raised onbashira in the Shimosha Harumiya, one of the four main shrines of the Suwa Grand Shrine complex | |
| Frequency | Every 6 years |
| Location(s) | Lake Suwa area (Hara, Fujimi, Chino, Suwa, Shimosuwa, Okaya), Nagano Prefecture |
| Coordinates | 36°04′31″N 138°05′29″E / 36.07528°N 138.09139°E |
| Country | Japan |
| Years active | circa 1,200 |
| Inaugurated | circa late 8th century? |
| Most recent | 2022 |
| Next event | 2028 |
| Website | www |
The Mihashira or Onbashira (Japanese: 御柱, honorific prefix 御 on-/mi- + 柱 hashira 'pillar') are four wooden posts or pillars that stand on the four corners of local shrines in the Lake Suwa area of Nagano Prefecture (historical Shinano Province), Japan. The largest and most famous set of onbashira are those that stand on the four shrines that make up the Suwa Grand Shrine complex.
By custom, the onbashira are replaced every six (traditionally reckoned as seven) years, in the years of the Monkey and the Tiger in the Chinese zodiac. In Suwa Shrine, this occurs during the Onbashira Festival (御柱祭, Onbashira-sai), which also functions as a symbolic renewal of the shrine's buildings. During the festival, sixteen specially chosen fir trees are felled and then transported down a mountain, where they are then erected at the four corners of each shrine. Festival participants ride the onbashira as they are slid down the mountain, dragged to the shrine, and raised, and the festival has the reputation of being the most dangerous in Japan due to the number of people regularly injured or killed while riding the logs. This festival, which lasts several months, consists of two main segments, Yamadashi and Satobiki. Yamadashi traditionally takes place in April, and Satobiki takes place in May.[1] For 2022, the Yamadashi portion has been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the Satobiki is still scheduled to begin on 3 May.[2][needs update]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Go Naganowas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Onbashira 2022 Latest News and Information". onbashirafestival.com. 8 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-31.