Mountain Tourist Season Opened with Traditional Festival in Gifu Prefecture

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:07 JST, May 28, 2025

TAKAYAMA, Gifu — An event marking the start of tourist season in the Gifu Prefecture part of the Northern Japanese Alps was held at Murakami Shrine in Takayama in the prefecture.

The Northern Japanese Alps lie within the Chubusangaku National Park straddling Toyama, Niigata, Nagano and Gifu prefectures, and the shrine is located in the Okuhida Onsengo onsen hot spring resort area.

At the Banryu Festival held on May 10, about 100 people prayed in a Shinto ritual for safety on the mountains during the tourist season.

The event is held in memory of Banryu, a priest from the Edo period (1603-1867) who enshrined Buddhist statues on the 3,180-meter-high Mt. Yarigatake and the 2,897-meter-high Mt. Kasagatake.

Following the ritual, a traditional dance called torigei was performed. Dancers wearing crowns made of chicken feathers and vibrant costumes danced boldly while beating gongs and drums.

“We will continue to strive to protect the natural environment and revitalize the local region to attract even more visitors from around the world,” Keisuke Okimoto, chairperson of the Okuhida Onsengo Tourism Association, said at the ceremony.

The number of people who climbed the Japanese Northern Alps on the Gifu Prefecture side was 46,966 in fiscal 2024, almost the same as fiscal 2023.