Jostling big ritual wand at Mimi Shrine in Mihama Town, Fukui Prefecture

The regular festival of Mimi Shrine in Mihama Town, Fukui Prefecture is held on May 1st every year. The "Jostling big ritual wand" is a pretty rough event which raisers and stoppers jostle the big ritual wand likened to a portable shrine. The event takes half a day from around noon on that day. This photo was taken around four in the afternoon toward the end of the event. It shows that the ritual wand's paper strips which there were many at the beginning, have all torn off and only the bare pole is left. And after this, the people start to have it climbing of the stone steps.

A man who fell of the stone steps with the pole as the stoppers pushed him back.

It's the climax of the jostling for the pole on the stone steps.

The boy in charge of this year's festival is waiting for the arrival of the pole. When the pole arrives at the top of the stone steps, they put the boy on the pole , carry it into the main shrine, and the event ends. And then, "King Dance" will be performed in the precinct.

Show the map of Mimi Shrine