Nagataki Hakusan Shrine

Nagataki Hakusan Shrine, located in the city of Gujo, is a shrine of the Hakusan group that worships Mt. Hakusan as the water god. Once part of the Hakusan Chugu Choryuji Temple, founded by the monk Taicho in the eighth century, it split off from the temple in the 1870s, when the Japanese government forced Buddhism and Shinto to start functioning as separate religions. There are stone lanterns said to be products of the Kamakura period (1185-1334) on the shrine grounds, and the treasure house contains many cultural artifacts, such as Showa no tsubo, Teboko (hand spear), and No drama masks. Among them are items that have been designated National Important Cultural Properties. Every year on January 6, the shrine celebrates a festival that has been designated a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, Nagataki no Ennen. In the midst of dancing, visitors try to grab flowers, such as cherry blossoms and peonies, that are hung from the ceiling of the main building. This custom gives the festival its other name, the flower grabbing festival.