Yagorodon Festival

A traditional festival which has been conducted at Iwakawahachiman-jinja Shrine in Osumi for some 900 years. Together with the Buddha Festival and the Ohara Festival, the Yagorodon Festival is considered one of Kagoshima Prefecture's three greatest festivals. Yagorodon was a huge man said to be as big as a mountain. There are many other legends concerning the man, such as that he he was the chief of the Hayato people, or that he was in fact the legendary hero Takenouchi no Sukune, but there is little clear information about him. During the festival, a 4.85 meter figure of Yagorodon wrapped in a 25 tan crimson robe wearing a four meter long sword and three meter short sword at his hip is pulled through the streets of the city by a large number of people, creating a thrilling spectacle that attracts great numbers of onlookers each year.