Tado Festival

The nihongo|Tado Festival|多度祭|Tado Matsuri is a Japanese festival that takes place every year during Japan's Golden Week on May 4 and 5 at Tado Shrine in the city of Kuwana, Mie Prefecture.

Event description

The main event for the festival is a horse jumping event. The horses are ridden by young males around the ages of 17–19 representing the six sections of the city. The horses run up a hill before trying to jump over a two-meter high wall. On the first day, each area's representative jumps over the wall twice for a total of 12 jumps. On the second day, each representative only makes one attempt for a total of six jumps. Other events follow the horse jumping on the second day, including "yabusame", a form of archery.

This event was named one of Mie Prefecture's Designated Intangible Cultural Properties in 1978.

External links

* [http://www.tadotaisya.or.jp/ Tado Shrine homepage] ja icon
* [http://kanko.city.kuwana.mie.jp/event/tadomatsuri/index.html Kuwana Sightseeing Guide: Tado Matsuri] ja icon
* [http://bunka.city.kuwana.mie.jp/bunkazai/126.html Kuwana Designated Intangible Cultural Properties] ja icon