Taga Taisha Shrine is Shiga Prefecture's most popular Shinto shrine during New Year's with over 400,000 worshippers. Photos taken on New Year's Day. Also see the video at YouTube. More about Taga here.

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Held annually on April 22, this is a long procession featuring Shinto priests, children in costume, women warriors, and more people on 40 horses. A total of 500 people were in the procession. There is a morning procession from Taga Taisha to Totonomiya Shrine deep in Taga's countryside, and an afternoon (main) procession going to the Otabisho, a short distance away from Taga Taisha. Also see my YouTube video here.

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Feb. 3 is the Setsubun Festival at many temples and shrines in Japan. It marks the beginning of spring according to the lunar calendar. So they throw beans at ogre to eliminate the evil of the previous year and bring in good fortune. Taga Taisha had impressive ogre (called oni in Japanese) dancers from Shimane Prefecture to act as the demons to chase away during the festival. Also see my YouTube video here.

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Held annually on the first Sunday in June, the Taga Taisha O-taue Matsuri rice-planting festival has 70 local junior high school girls planting rice in the shrine's sacred rice paddy. There's also a stage for ceremonial performances and rituals. A ceremony starts at 1 pm at the shrine, then the rice planting starts at the nearby sacred rice paddy at 2 pm. These photos were taken on June 1, 2008. Also see my YouTube video here.

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Held during Aug. 3-5 at Taga Taisha Shrine, the Mantosai or 10,000-Lantern Festival is a night festival when numerous lanterns are lit within the shrine grounds. The lanterns are for the repose of ancestral spirits. Various sacred dances and entertainment are also held nightly during the festival. These photos were taken on Aug. 5, 2007. Also see my YouTube video here.

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Other sights in Taga, Shiga Prefecture.

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