Shikoku Youkai (Goblin) Festival

Were you able to attend the Youkai Festival last weekend? We had a lot of fun amid the flurry of dance and song performances and loads of delicious goblin-themed treats.

 

Now that it’s over, I’d like to introduce a bit of the history of this event! The Japanese love their festivals, but where exactly does this “youkai” festival come from? If you’ve visited the Oboke area before, you might have noticed there’s a lot of goblin statues scattered about, a youkai road, and even a museum. Oho, well, the history of these youkai stretches back to a time before electricity and cars, when people had to travel by foot or cart through the mountains, and deep gorges like Oboke were especially dangerous for night travel!

 

In order to protect the local children from the perilous terrain and those who might potentially harm or kidnap them, stories of spooky goblins wandering the area began to be whispered among the locals… don’t go off by yourself, or you’ll be snatched and swallowed up! Even now, if you strain your ears to listen, you may hear the echo of strange whispers in the gorge, especially at night… these are the mumbles of youkai.

 

Or so the legend goes.

Why not visit the area and see for yourself?

 

 

~

May 2023 | Yamashiro, Miyoshi, Tokushima

徳島県三好市山城町