Onbashira Matsuri – Log Riding Festival

The Onbashira Matsuri is a Shinto festival of renewal held once every six years in the Suwa Taisha region of Nagano Prefecture. Continuously celebrated for over 1,200 years, this immense event is dedicated to the four shrines of the complex, where 16 massive fir trees are selected and prepared to replace the sacred pillars (onbashira) standing at the corners of the shrine buildings. While deeply rooted in religious ritual, the festival is publicly famous for its unique, high-stakes nature, commanding global attention.

The overall event is formally split into two phases held months apart: Yamadashi (Mountain Departure) in April and Satobiki (Town Pulling) in May.

Yamadashi takes place in the forested mountainsides near Lake Suwa and features the Kiotoshi (Tree Falling) – the most famous spectacle of the festival – held on the famous Kiotoshi-zaka slope. During this event, participants climb aboard the massive logs and ride them down steep hillsides, an incredibly risky maneuver that requires careful timing and a dash of daring.

Conversely, Satobiki is celebrated closer to the city centers, where the logs are paraded through the town and finally raised upright at the four specific shrine grounds of Suwa Taisha region: Kamisha Honmiya (Upper Main Shrine), Kamisha Maemiya (Upper Former Shrine), Shimosha Akimiya (Lower Autumn Shrine), and Shimosha Harumiya (Lower Spring Shrine). These spectacular, centuries-old processes are what define this rare and unforgettable Japanese tradition.