Shimotsuki festival starts in Nagano

The annual Shimotsuki Festival has begun in a remote mountain village in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan.

Nine Shinto shrines in the Toyama-go area of Iida City take turns to host the event in the lunar month of November. Water is boiled on a furnace and splashed to pray for good health. The festival has been designated as an important intangible cultural property of Japan.

Nichigetsu Shrine hosted the event on Wednesday.

Elementary school students performed festival music with flutes while adults played drums. A shrine worker wearing a long-nosed tengu mask splashed boiling water, drawing cheers from the onlookers.

A pupil in the musical troupe joined a dance performed by adults taking the role of gods.

The festival continues until December 15th.