We went to see the “Ebessan Children’s Festival (61st Nishinomiya Dadaikagura Festival)”, held today, 5/5, so here’s a look at what it was like.
At around exactly 1 p.m., the parking lot at Nishinomiya Shrine was full, and cars were lined up waiting.
There were tons of bicycles parked along Ebessan-suji in front.
A banner for the “Ebessan Children’s Festival” was hung on the torii gate at Akamon.
After entering through Akamon and walking a little farther, there was a plaza on the right where all kinds of things were going on.
Spinning tops. There was even a corner where you could wrap the string and give it a try yourself.
Plate spinning is something you pretty much only get to try at events like this, right?
This area was the street performance plaza, and everyone was dancing together.
The line for Sanpoya, the baby castella shop familiar to visitors of Nishinomiya Shrine, was incredible.
And here was another huge line!
It was the children’s mini Shinkansen. This is one of the super popular attractions at the festival.
There was also ring toss.
They were also holding a children’s 〇rackout tournament. What do you think goes in the 〇?
Next in the line-up of long lines was this: darts. It was the kind where you get something if you hit the target.
It was so busy that the same-day tickets, which included fun lottery tickets and play area participation tickets, had sold out.
The Nishinomiya Dadaikagura Festival was also being held as a Shinto ritual.
There were this many people visiting the shrine to pray, too.
This shop also had a huge line. It was Manpuku, selling takoyaki and shaved ice. They were selling takosen too.
A popcorn shop. There weren’t that many food stalls overall, but it felt like there were quite a few stalls that kids would like.
The fun lottery! This is the kind of event only a shrine could really pull off.
First prize was Ebessan rice, which felt more geared toward adults. I’m also curious about the Darth Vader special prize in the back.
The shooting gallery was popular as expected, and this was another line spot.
Okame Chaya was packed too.
They were selling oden, warabimochi, mitarashi dango, amazake, and boiled eggs. I tried writing them all in hiragana on purpose. Ask a first grader and see if they can read them.
They also had super ball scooping.
They were selling carp food! 50 yen!
People were feeding the carp like this. Somehow, I got the feeling the carp were already full. Haha.
(Photo courtesy of Toki no Tabibito)
Believe it or not, three mascot characters from Nishinomiya, Nishinomiya Central Shopping Street, and Hyogo Prefecture appeared: Miyatan, Fukumimi Fuku-chan, and Habatan. I wanted to meet them, but I couldn’t. Thank you, Toki no Tabibito.
I covered the event while wearing a card holder that said Nishinomiya Tsushin, and people occasionally called out to me or said things like, “It’s Nishinomiya Tsushin!” That made me happy.
Finally
Maybe because it was the first time in four years, there was an incredible crowd. And everyone looked like they were having a great time. I think Nishinomiya Shrine will keep holding fun events like this, so I’d like to write about them again.
