Matsue Horan-Enya Memorial Hall

　In 2019, a procession of a hundred luxuriously decorated boats filled with performers dressed in colorful costumes sang and danced as they sailed through Matsue. This local festival is called Horan-enya, a Shinto ritual with 370 years of history and one of the three largest boat festivals in Japan. This festival is a rare sight because it is only held once every 10 years.

This museum was built to keep this significant tradition alive and teach people about this rarely occurring festival. It provides information on the origin and history of Horan-enya while including exhibits of the colorful costumes and boats with pictures and videos of the past events. If you have the pocket curator app on your phone you can view the descriptions in many other languages. In the courtyard is a kaitenma boat, modeled after the ones used in the actual festival, where visitors can walk on and experience the thrill of being one of the performers. This place is a must visit for people planning on attending the next Horan-enya in 2029!

Check out the Horan-enya 2019 Festival