🎎 Imamiya Ebisu Shrine "Toka Ebisu"

The Imamiya Ebisu Shrine in Naniwa Ward, Osaka City, holds a three-day festival called "Toka Ebisu" from January 9 to 11 each year, consisting of "Yoi Ebisu," "Hon Ebisu," and "Naka Ebisu." Toka Ebisu is a festival that prays for prosperous business and is grandly celebrated at many shrines in the Kansai region. It is also one of the most important rituals at the Imamiya Ebisu Shrine, which enshrines the deity Kotoshironushi no Mikoto. The festival scene is depicted in the oldest existing guidebook of Osaka, "Ashibune," making it a long-standing and traditionally significant event. Amidst the shouts of "Shōbai hanjo ya, kai tate sassa (商売繫昌じゃ笹もってこい)," the Imamiya Ebisu Shrine distributes green "Fukusasa" adorned with coins and small mallets as auspicious decorations. During the Toka Ebisu period, about 50 shrine maidens dressed in the same kimono, wearing a chihaya and golden eboshi, serve the Fukusasa as "Fuku Musume." There is also a "Toka Ebisu Limited Goshuin" available a few days before and during the three days of the festival. The "Hōe-kyakuren" of Imamiya Ebisu Shrine is also not to be missed. The Hōe-kyakuren originated after the Genroku era of the Edo period, where many geisha from the Minami district, including the Sōemon shopping street, would ride in multiple palanquins to the Imamiya Ebisu Shrine to pray for a prosperous year. This tradition continues today, with the modern procession featuring a "Fukujin" palanquin carrying a sea bream and a Hōe-kyakuren carrying notable figures, parading from Dotonbori's "Ebisu Bridge" to the Minami shopping district, accompanied by the chants of "ho-e-ka-go ho-e-ka-go (ほえかご、ほえかご)."

Held annually from January 9 to 11. A traditional event to pray for prosperous business. Distribution of "Fukuzasa" adorned with lucky charms. The "Fukumusume" selected each year also attracts considerable attention.