Prepare the mikoshi for the deity
At Asakusa’s Sanja Festival, the three deities are transferred into three main shrine mikoshi. Neighbourhood mikoshi also take part after purification. Their ritual preparation precedes the street procession.
Illustrated Japanese Culture
Mikoshi: taking a deity through the neighbourhood
神輿
A mikoshi is a portable shrine used to carry a deity’s presence during a festival. A sacred object representing the deity is placed inside for the journey. The shrine building stays in place while the procession travels through its community, sometimes stopping at a temporary resting place.
A temporary vehicle for the deityRitual role
Roof, body, base and carrying polesStructure
Streets, temporary resting places and sometimes waterRoutes
01
What happens during a procession?
- Transfer the deity into the mikoshi
- Departure → procession → stops
- Return to the shrine and sanctuary
Leave, visit and return
At Asakusa, the mikoshi leave the shrine, pass through the parish neighbourhoods and return; the deities are then returned to the main sanctuary. Other festivals have different schedules and stopping places. An otabisho is a temporary resting place or destination during the journey.
- Mikoshi: carries the deity
- Dashi and yamaboko: their own processions and rites
Mikoshi and festival floats have different roles
At Kyoto’s Gion Festival, the mikoshi take the deities out during Shinkō-sai and return during Kankō-sai. The yamahoko float procession is a related but separate event. Ritual function is a better distinction than simply asking whether an object has wheels.
02
Read the miniature architecture
Roof, body, base and poles
Many mikoshi have an architectural form, with a roof over the central body, a supporting base and carrying poles. The old mikoshi at Shinagawa Shrine includes four posts and balustrades. Hiyoshi Taisha’s seven historic mikoshi include six square forms and an octagonal one for Ushio Shrine.
The roof does not always carry a phoenix
Asakusa’s first main mikoshi has a phoenix, while the second and third have gibōshu finials. Curled projections at roof corners are called warabite. These details help distinguish individual mikoshi.
Several trades work on one mikoshi
Construction brings together joinery, lacquer, woodcarving and metalwork. Miyamoto’s workshop selects woods such as zelkova, hinoki and oak according to structural and finishing needs. Metal fittings may be engraved, hammered or cast. Repairs over many years mean an old mikoshi can contain parts of different dates.
03
Early records and medieval authority
A journey recorded in 749
The journey of Hachiman from Usa to Nara in 749 is an important early record of a deity travelling in a palanquin. The account appears in the Shoku Nihongi. It does not establish when every later form of mikoshi developed.
A sacred presence in political demands
In the medieval period, groups associated with Enryakuji and other religious institutions brought mikoshi or sacred trees when presenting forceful petitions. The deity’s presence gave these actions religious authority. Mikoshi therefore appeared in political disputes as well as calendrical festivals.
04
Surviving vehicles from early modern Japan
Seven mikoshi at Hiyoshi Taisha
Hiyoshi Taisha’s surviving gilt-metal-mounted mikoshi date from the Momoyama and Edo periods. Records associate offerings with 1589 and 1611. Continued use required repairs, so the date of an offering does not date every surviving component.
An early Edo example at Shinagawa
The old mikoshi at Shinagawa Shrine is dated stylistically to the early Edo period. Its donation is attributed to Tokugawa Iemitsu in one local tradition and to Tokugawa Ieyasu in another.
Asakusa’s festival changed its form
The Edo-period Asakusa festival was closely connected with Sensōji, and neighbourhood floats played a major role. Today’s concentration on mikoshi developed within a festival whose vehicles and organisation have changed.
05
Loss, rebuilding and reenactment
Asakusa rebuilt after the air raids
Asakusa’s seven prewar mikoshi were destroyed in the air raids. The present first and second main mikoshi were donated in 1950, and the third in 1953. Their postwar dates distinguish them from the festival’s much longer history.
A procession recalls a 1617 transfer
Nikkō’s procession of warriors escorts mikoshi in a reenactment of the transfer of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s deified spirit in 1617. The old mikoshi were made in 1636; those used today were remade during 1965–74.
06
Movement and meaning vary by festival
Asakusa: shaking as tamafuri
Asakusa Shrine explains the shaking of its mikoshi as tamafuri, an act believed to strengthen the deity’s power. This is a local religious explanation of the movement, rather than a rule for every procession.
Hamaori: a procession to the shore
At the Hamaori Festival, mikoshi travel to the coast for purification. Rings, bells, songs and the dokkoi call form part of the local Sōshū rhythm. The sea-bound route belongs to this festival’s arrangements.
Sannō: part of the journey is by boat
At Hiyoshi Taisha’s Sannō Festival, seven mikoshi process through the neighbourhoods and onto Lake Biwa. Boat transport is part of the divine journey, alongside movement on land.
The shrine and neighbourhood organise the route
Shrines, parishioners and local groups prepare and carry out these festivals. Participation, routes and access depend on the particular event. The organisers’ arrangements explain where spectators can watch and who takes part.
What can you now explain?
Who rides inside a mikoshi?
It carries a sacred object representing the deity, not a human passenger.
Does the entire shrine building move?
No. The mikoshi serves as a temporary vehicle while the building stays in place.
What is an otabisho?
A temporary resting place or destination for the deity during a procession.
How do the Gion Festival’s mikoshi differ from its floats?
The mikoshi carry the deities; the float procession is a related but separate event.
Is every mikoshi topped with a phoenix?
No. Other finials occur, including gibōshu on two of Asakusa’s main mikoshi.
Are all mikoshi square?
No. Hiyoshi Taisha has an octagonal example among its seven historic mikoshi.
What crafts are involved in making one?
Joinery, lacquer, woodcarving and metalworking, among others.
What happened to Asakusa’s prewar mikoshi?
They were destroyed in the air raids; the present three main mikoshi were donated in 1950 and 1953.
Must the whole route be carried on people’s shoulders?
No. Some festivals include travel by boat, as at Hiyoshi Taisha.
Does shaking a mikoshi mean the same thing everywhere?
No. Asakusa explains it as tamafuri, but movements and interpretations vary locally.