Otaue Rice Planting Festival

The staple diet of the Japanese and widely cultivated throughout the country, Rice is considered to be sacred for the Japanese people. A country well known for its colorful festivals, rituals and customs, the Otaue Rice Planting Festival in Osaka, Japan is held amidst great celebrations.

Osaka, the third largest city and the commercial hub of the island country is also famous for its food culture.

The ritual is celebrated all over Japan on a large scale and fun and feasting is an integral part of the ceremony. The celebration takes place usually on June14th and the celebrations at Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine in Osaka city is the most notable one.

Features:

• June is the rice planting season in Japan, and the cultivation is given a religious touch through this festival.

• According to the process, rice saplings are transplanted from the nursery to the main fields. The paddies are tilled by the oxen and the hand planting is done with expertise by the Japanese women.

• The Japanese believe that the act of dancing puts vitality in the grains and speeds up its growth. Hence the festival is marked with a lot of dancing and folk songs while the planting process is in progress.

• Women put on the traditional farming attire consisting of kasa, that is braided hats decorated with flowers and along with them a procession by the samurai warriors adds charm to the festival.

• The attention is captured however by the exotic dance performance put up by the young Japanese girls named Sumiyoshi Odori.

• Throughout the festival people pray for a good rice crop and abundance of harvest. After the harvest offerings are made to the shrine deity.

How to Reach

By Air: The place can be reached within 3 minutes from the Sumiyoshi Taisha station. Located on the Nankai- Dentetsu Line, the station can be reached from Shin Imamiya station. Shin Imamiya station can be reached from the Kansai Airport.

By Rail: Take a train from Shin Imamiya station to Sumiyoshi Taisha station. The festival venue is located at a 3 minutes distance from the Sumiyoshi Taisha station.