Innoshima Suigun Sea Festival

 

Innoshima, an island in the Inland Sea between Honshu and Shikoku, is one of the places most associated with the Murakami, a warrior clan of feudal Japan either called pirates or navy, depending on who was writing and when.

There are three summer festivals on Innoshima, the first in late July or early August involves a gathering of "samurai" in full regalia and then fireworks. The second, the Fire Festival, takes place towards the end of August and involves the same samurai carrying huge torches, a local dance, and then once again fireworks.

The final festival takes place the day following the Fire Festival, and this is the boat racing. Like the other two festivals, it takes place on Shimanami Beach.

The boats are traditional wooden boats known as Kohayo. Some sources suggest these were high-speed boats used for messengers, but other sources have them used in combat with archers on board.

Up to 50 teams take part and heats are held throughout the day, leading to a grand final.

Each boat has a crew of 16, 14 rowers, a drummer, and the helmsman.

There are races for school teams and women's teams, but the highlight is the men's team final.

I was climbing Mount Shirataki when I saw the festival taking place, so unfortunately, the shots were all taken from far away.

The previous post in this series on day 12 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon pilgrimage was on the walk from Onomichi to Innoshima.