Owari Tsushima Tenno Festival
Date: Jul 26,2025(Sat)、Jul 27(Sun)
Recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage for Humanity
The Owari Tsushima Tenno Festival is a celebration held by Tsushima Jinja Shrine with a history of nearly 600 years. This festival is one of Japan's three major river festivals and surely among the biggest, most spectacular, and beautiful of all summer festivals. The Danjiri Boats which float along the Tenno River were recognized as a national intangible folk cultural heritage in 1980 as well as an Intangible Cultural Heritage for Humanity by UNESCO.
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A surreal Night Festival
Five lantern-lit Makiwara Boats raise up more than 500 lanterns atop their onboard float structures and depart the Kurumakodo preparation area, rowing along the Tenno River.
A spectacular aspect of the Night Festival would have to be when, at 6:30 pm, festival participants begin lighting the Makiwara Boats' paper lanterns before departing for their river destination from 8:15 pm. This majestic scene is undoubtably the most magical point during the Night Festival.
A splendid Morning Festival
The next morning, six flamboyantly festooned Danjiri Boats—Aisai City's Ichie Boat and five of Tsushima City's boats from the night before—make an appearance. The five Makiwara Boats from the previous Night Festival take down their lanterns and are redecorated throughout the night just for the Morning Festival.
The Danjiri Boats row along the Tenno River, meeting up with the Ichie Boat, from which 10 men with cloth banner-adorned pikes leap one after another into the Tenno River in a heroic display.
EVENT OVERVIEW
| Date | • Night Festival: From 6:00 pm (held in light rain) • Morning Festival: From 9:10 am (held in light rain) |
|---|---|
| Place | Tsushima Jinja Shrine and Tennogawa Park |
| Location | 〒496-0853 1 Miyagawa-cho, Tsushima-shi, Aichi (Tennogawa Park) 〒496-0851 1 Shinmei-cho, Tsushima-shi, Aichi (Tsushima Jinja Shrine) |
| Parking | Limited parking available. Parking not allowed on nearby streets. Use public transportation whenever possible. |
| Restrooms | Available |
| Phone number | Festival inquiries: • 0567-26-3216 (Owari Tsushima Tenno Festival Supporter's Association Office) Event inquiries: • 0567-28-8051 (Tsushima City Tourist Association) • 0567-55-9663 (Construction and Industry Promotion Section, Tsushima City Hall) |
Note: This page may not be current due to update time differences between site databases.
Should accuracy be critical, please verify this information using a direct source, whenever possible.
ACCESS
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- Access by public transport
- 20-min. walk west from Tsushima Station on the Meitetsu Tsushima Line / Meitetsu Bisai Line. (From Nagoya Station, take either the Meitetsu Nagoya Line train bound for Inuyama/Gifu and change trains at Sukaguchi Station, or take either the Kintetsu Nagoya Line or JR Kansai Main Line and change trains at Yatomi Station.)
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- Access by car
- • Using the Higashi-Meihan Expressway (from Mie Prefecture, or from Nagoya Expressway R5 Mamba Route): approx. 15 min. (6.6 km) north from Yatomi Interchange via Route 155.
• Using the Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway (from Gifu Prefecture): approx. 35 min. (18.7 km) south from Bisai Interchange via Routes 148 and 155.
• Using the Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway (from the Meishin Expressway): approx. 30 min. (16.8 km) south from Ichinomiya-Nishi Interchange via Route 155.
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INFORMATION ON THE SURROUNDING AREA
Tsushima-City
- Tsushima Jinja Shrine
- Tsushima Jinja Shrine is probably most well known for its role as the stage for the Owari ...
Inazawa-City ...
- Shobata Castle Site (birthplace of Oda Nobunaga) and Statue of Baby Nobunaga
- Shobata Castle once stood between Aichi Prefecture's cities of Inazawa and Aisai and was c...
Aisai-City
- Roadside Station "Michi-no-Eki" Tatsuta Fureai-no-Sato
- The city of Aisai is famous for its expansive farms of renkon - lotus root - which are ble...
