Ozagawari Festival

Tsukuba-san ozagawari matsuri. Part of a spring and autumn festival that takes place on Mount Tsukuba on the first of April and November every year.

A pair of portable shrines (o-mikoshi) are carried up and down Mount Tsukuba; the smaller one to the shrine at the peak of the mountain, and a larger one to the base. Later in the afternoon both are reunited at the main shrine on the lower slope of the mountain in a procession lead by a tengu (long-nosed goblin).

Its a local festival with a long history, but not well known outside the Tsukuba area. While there were lots of people taking the day trip from Tokyo to climb Tsukuba-san few had any idea about the festival.