Lifestyles and Traditions - Festivals
Held annually on New Year's Day at Uzuka-mikoto Shrine (Ama Town)
This ritual is an Intangible Cultural Property of Ama Town, and is part of the New Year's ritual, to pray for bountiful harvest and good haul of fish. At the festival, ago-ishi rocks, or oval shaped pebbles that look like flying fish, are offered to the shrine and kept under the main hall. The pebbles that were kept there the previous year are then retrieved and thrown, one by one, while facing the direction of the sea and yelling, "Good haul!" This is a unique festival within Japan.
