Mibu-no-Hanadaue Traditional Rice Planting Ritual

Mibu-no-hanadaue is a revived rice planting ritual that dates back to the Middle Ages and is reenacted on the first Sunday of June every year.

The event was designated as a UNESCO Intangible Heritage in 2003, and many people now make the trip to Chiyoda in Kitahiroshima to view it.

Bulls are led through the streets to Mibu Hachiman Shrine where they are dressed with elaborately decorated saddles and colorful necklaces. They are then led to a field, and after they have ploughed it saotome (rice planting maidens) in kimono and wide-brimmed sugegasa hats plant rice seedlings in time with the music performed by drummers and flautists as they sing.

Everything you need to know about Kitahiroshima’s Mibu no Hanadaue Rice Planting Festival.

Parking available at the Chiyoda Michi-no-eki and Town Hall from where shuttle buses run to the rice field.

Parade from Mibu Shotengai Shopping Area to the Planting field

• First go check out the cattle being decorated at Mibu Hachiman Shrine
• 10:50 Kids parade (from Mibu elementary school)
• 12:00 Folk dance (from Mibu elementary school)
• 12:30 Decorated cattle parade (from Mibu Shrine Hachiman)
• 13:00 Traditional music

Rice field ploughing and rice planting start at about 14:00

Note Times approximate based on previous years.

Access:

Car
Exit the Chugoku Expressway at Chiyoda IC. Free shuttle buses run from Parking #1, #3, and #4 (see map above).

Shuttle bus:　09:00-16:00
Kitahiroshima Town Hall → Michi no Eki Mairoad → Rice planting area

Bus
Take the Miyoshi-Shobara-Matsue-bound bus from Hiroshima Bus Center platform #9 and get off at Chiyoda IC (¥1310 one-way adult fare).
Take the Hamada-bound bus from Hiroshima Shinkansen Station or Hiroshima Bus Center and get off at Chiyoda IC.
Take the Miyoshi-Shobara-Tojo-bound bus from Hiroshima Bus Center and get off at Chiyoda IC.