Shirakami-san Aki Matsuri Autumn Festival

Shirakami Shrine, located right downtown on a busy intersection on Peace Boulevard next to the ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel, is one of the city’s oldest shrines. It is thought that the white paper referred to in its name was used to alert boats of the outcrop of rocks that occupied where the shrine is today before land reclamation work began to extend the city southwards.

The shrine’s annual autumn festival is held on the nights of October 28 and 29. The shrine is buzzes with activity as local and people on their way home from work drop in the pay their respects, the street is lined with festival stalls and the Sakabara Kagura Troupe perform on a makeshift stage