Ebisu Festival | Ikeda, Miyoshi

On January 20th, I visited a unique Japanese festival centered around a Japanese god of fortune, Ebisu! This festival is held in Ikeda in January each year, and business owners visit Ebisu Shrine to offer prayers and purchase “lucky bamboo” to display for the year. They also bring last year’s bamboo back, which is purified at the local shrine… essentially, burned to ash! Because these decorations are so beautiful, I can’t help but feel it’s a bit of a waste, but the locals tell me it’s all part of the tradition: leave behind the old, in with the new. And I suppose this is especially important with business!

Lucky bamboo (fukuzasa 福笹) are decorated with all kinds of prosperous symbols:
- sea bream (tai) for good fortune (omede-tai, a play on the Japanese word for celebration/congratulation)

- coins/money/treasure to symbolize wealth

- masks of Ebisu himself
- etc! Plus, the bamboo symbolizes hearty growth, and some of the ornaments are pasted to a bamboo rake--to rake in money, apparently!

Seems like this custom of purchasing lucky bamboo isn’t central to Tokushima, though. My friend from the neighbouring prefecture, Kagawa, told me he’d never seen this custom before. It’s popular here in Miyoshi, though---the line for purchasing new bamboo was pretty long!

Since the festival is held in such a cold season, they also offer shouga-yu (sweet ginger drink) to visitors every year. Though we were blessed with pleasant temperatures and blue skies… ☀️

Next time I enter a business, I’ll have to keep an eye out for one of these bamboo decorations. ⭐

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Article written by Bethany
January 2026 | Miyoshi, Tokushima

徳島県三好市