【Reading】かさまはつうまいなりずしまつり

【English Name】Kasama Hatsuuma Inari Sushi Festival

A festival and event held at Kasama Inari Shrine in Kasama City, Ibaraki Prefecture, in conjunction with the first Day of the Horse (hatsuuma) in February. Kasama Inari Shrine is said to have been founded in 651 (Hakuchi 2) and is an ancient shrine counted among the Three Great Inari Shrines of Japan, visited by more than 3 million worshippers a year.

Hatsuuma refers to the first Day of the Horse to come around after entering February, and derives from the tradition that the day the Inari deity descended onto Mt. Inari in Fushimi in 711 (Wado 4) corresponds to it. Hatsuuma festivals are held at Inari shrines throughout the country, and at Kasama Inari Shrine as well it is positioned as one of the important rituals.

At Inari shrines, inari-zushi and abura-age shaped like rice bales have long been offered as offerings to the rice deity (ina-nari). In Kasama, inari-zushi making use of local ingredients is a feature, and the distinctive "Kasama inari-zushi," which adds ingredients such as soba and walnuts, is well known. At this festival, each shop offers creative inari-zushi crafted with ingenuity, and it has become established as an event where one can enjoy comparing tastes.

The alternate name of Kasama Inari Shrine, "Kurumigashita Inari," derives from walnut trees having grown thick at the site of its founding, and inari-zushi using walnuts as an ingredient can be said to vividly reflect this connection.