Shishi , artificial objects and wild masked characters ~Hourai festival ほうらい祭り
Date; Saturday and Sunday in early October
Location; Kinkengu Hizume-cho, Hakusan City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Access; Take the Ishikawa Railway train bound for Komatsu from Kanazawa to Nishi-Kanazawa. It’s a 5-minute walk to the Hokuriku Railway’s Shin-Nishi-Kanazawa Station. From there, take the train bound for Tsurugi—the ride takes about 30 minutes. It’s about a 10-minute walk from the station to Kinken-gu Shrine.
Hakusan city official https://www.urara-hakusanbito.com/festival/detail_1004.html
This article is based on 4th, October, 2025
Take a short trip from Kanazawa
After one stop from Kanazawa Station, when you arrive at Nishi-Kanazawa Station, you’ll see the Hokuriku Railway station a short distance ahead.
As you wait at the small station, a train pulls in. It’s bound for Tsurugi Station—your destination for today.
There was a large festival sign at the station. Other than that, however, it seemed quite quiet.
A small town nestled in the mountains. A quiet town that still retains its old-fashioned streetscape.
It’s still early, so the festival hasn’t started yet, but you can see decorations all over town. Kinken-gu Shrine. Today is the festival at this shrine. The approach is already lined with many stalls and crowded with people.
Around 12:30, the festival finally began. Unfortunately, it was raining, so the decorations were covered with tarps.
Kaga Lion, decorative ornament
The festival has three main attractions: the mikoshi, the decorated floats, and the Kaga lions. It is said that they create something unique every time and have never made the same thing twice in 850 years. The creations are displayed at facilities throughout the city for one year, until the next festival.
You can see lion dances based on the “Lion Slayer” story from northern Gifu Prefecture through Ishikawa Prefecture and on to Toyama Prefecture. However, unlike the narrative-driven performances in Toyama and Gifu, the Kaga Lion Dance here is known for being purely action-oriented.
It is said that the Maeda clan, which once ruled this region, encouraged lion dances to promote martial arts. Perhaps that is why.
Bakumen !
And tagging along with those groups are a mysterious bunch—the main characters of this story.
It’s called “Bakumen.” Dressed in casual attire, they tie a crushed five-gallon drum to a rope and drag it along as they walk. They glare at their surroundings and clear the path.
Various “Baku-men”
Rain or shine, it doesn’t matter. The townspeople gaze at Bakumen with a mixture of fear and respect. There are no specific rules regarding costumes. Sometimes they wear different costumes depending on the year.
Sometimes gentle, sometimes terrifying. Sometimes they intimidate people, and other times they imitate the lion dance. In any case, they’re the stars of the festival. In a sense, they’re the main attraction.
Bakume forever
In this “bakumen,” for example, the lower jaw of the mask is missing. Even so, this mask has been cherished and used over the years.
Even so, what’s scary to a child is still scary.
The festival goes on late into the night for two days.
If you have some free time during your trip to Kanazawa, be sure to check it out and see for yourself that a festival like this exists.
＼ 最新情報をチェック ／
