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| photo courtesy of Minamichita Kanko-ka |
Shinojima Ombe-Bream Festival
October 12 (annual)
7:00 - 16:00
Nakatejima => Ichiba
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| photo courtesy of Minamichita Kanko-ka |
Long time ago (approx. 2,000 years ago), Yamatohime-no-Mikoto stopped by
Shinojima while traveling through Ise Bay.
She loved this island very much and decided to make it a territory of Ise
Shrine.
She also loved the taste of bream cought around Shinojima, and since then
Shinojima was made Oniedokoro,
to provide some food for Ise Shrine, especially bream.
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At the beach, fish are cleaned by taking off entrails and washing them
with seawater and bamboo brush. Then they are put into bamboo baskets and
carried to the Choseijo, which is on the top of the hill. There they are stuffed 1.5 heaping handful of salt in their stomach, and piled up in the barrels, added seawater and put stone weights. On a fine day in one week, they are carried to the beach and washed by seawater again. Then dry them under the sunlight for two days.
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| Fish are prepared by fishermen |
This is a Shinto ritual which has more than 1000 years of history in offering
Ombe-bream to Ise Shrine(external link).
People take more than 500 dried salt breams every year, prepared by the
members of Shinojima Fishermen Assoscation, to Ise Shrine by boats in a
convoy.
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The procession starts from the choseijo, a special place for making salt
bream for gods, at Nakatejima
in the northernmost Shinojima Island around 7:00a.m.
Local people lift a flag given from Ise Shrine, on which "‘¾ˆêŒä—p
(which means Ise Shrine's order)" is written.
It is said that, in old times, fishermen on a boat with this flag could
exercise implicit authority
when they catch bream for the offering or while sailing to Ise Shrine with
the dried ones.
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| 7:00a.m. A boat-shaped float | Ceremony at Ichiba | Checking the containers of dried fish |
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| Ready for leaving | Gaze after the boats | Boats arrive in the port |
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| Welcome ceremony | At Ise Shrine | Boats return to Ichiba, Shinojima |
| photos courtesy of Atsumiya Marine Park Hotel (Mr. Araki) |
The procession starts Nakatejima at 7:00a.m. and arrives at Ichiba around
8:00a.m.
After the ceremony, boats with dried salt bream leave for Ise.
There are many events until the boats coming back.
After they are coming back around 16:00, the last event mochinage starts.
They offer dried salt breams three times a year for Ise Shrine.
June (Tsukinami-sai Festival /Jun. 16 & 17 for Naiku, 15 & 16 for
Geku)
October (Kanname-sai Festival /Oct. 16 & 17 for Naiku, 15 & 16
for Geku)
December (Tsukinami-sai Festival /Dec.16 & 17 for Naiku, 15 & 16
for Geku )
access
Get off at Kowa Sta. on the Meitetsu line.(approx. 50min. from Nagoya)
Walk to the Kowa Port.(5 min.)
Take Meitetsu-Kosokusen (Meitetsu Speed Boat) bound for Shinojima. (30min./1,180yen)
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