Every four years the most rural and beautiful part of Tojo Town, called Onuka, has an “ushi matsuri” or cow festival. Last spring, invited by the principal of the tiny Onuka Junior High-School, I was lucky enough to experience it. Tojo is a very agricultural area whose economy since ancient times has revolved around rice and beef. So it is not hard to imagine there would be a festival celebrating those very important things. The ritual of the cow festival is aimed at pleasing the gods and insuring a good crop for the coming years.

The setting of the festival is a very green area on a narrow road between some rice paddies. Many kids and other locals are gathered there, and many local politicians in business suits give long boring speeches behind a podium. Then finally events begin. Many men in straw hats and white tunics beat on drums and march around. Following them are men dressed in blue tunics leading heavily decorated cows in a row between some rice paddies and down past a Shinto priest who blesses each cow. Then the men lead the cows into a rice paddy that has been flooded in preparation for planting. The men lead the cows around in zig-zag rows knee-deep in the paddy for awhile, occassionally falling down. After the cows are lead out of the rice paddy two rows of women dressed in traditional robes called “yukata” and carrying straw baskets filled with rice sprouts come in. Behind them stand the row of guys beating on drums. The women then begin planting the rice in tandem with the beat of the drums. This continues until the entire field is planted.

And that’s pretty much it. It was more interesting and fun than it sounds.