Shimizu Lantern Festival (Tsushima-jinja Shrine)

"Somehow or other, please ease the pestilence in the village. Even if the village is reduced to three houses the lantern festival will be kept up," the villagers pleaded to the gods. To this day, the "Shimizu Lantern Festival" is held every year to honor that promise. It is said that votive lantern festivals were once very common throughout this area, but now only this one remains. Akin to the religious festival held at Tsushima Shrine in Tsushima City, Aichi Prefecture, the villagers all appear together to tow festival floats decorated with lanterns to the shrine. To the traditional accompaniment of flutes and drums, the darkness is faintly illuminated by the beautiful glow of lanterns in a spectacle that will profoundly etch itself onto your heart. At the end, there's a surprise! The moment the flutes and drums stop, the spectators make a rush for the lanterns and decorations. Why is that? Because people take the sasa bamboo grass and lanterns home to adorn their houses in the belief that it prevents them from getting sick during the summer.