Miyagino Suwa Shrine Festival and Miyagino Yudate Shishimai

Suwa Shrine in Miyagino is one of more than 20,000 offshoots of Suwa Taisha in Nagano and is said to have been founded by the warlord Takeda Shingen. The April 15 annual festival includes shrine ceremonies, mikoshi parades, food stalls, and children's games the preceding weekend. On July 15, the shrine hosts yudate shishimai, a lion dance tradition performed continuously here for about 60 years. The three-hour performance includes seven distinct dances culminating in the ritual boiling of water, with performers dipping bamboo into the cauldron and directing steam toward the audience. Local belief holds that anyone touched by a drop of the sacred water will stay healthy through the year.