Overview

• Two ceremonial gozabune carrying sacred objects left Oshima around 9:30 a.m., leading the flotilla across roughly 10 kilometers to Konminato port.
• About 100 fishing vessels flew big-catch flags as participants offered prayers for a bountiful harvest and maritime safety.
• Large crowds of locals and tourists lined the waterfront, taking photos and cheering the procession.
• The maritime ritual opens Munakata Taisha’s autumn grand festival and is part of the World Cultural Heritage ensemble “The island where gods dwell: Munakata/Okinoshima and related sites.”
• At Oshima’s Nakatsu-miya, where departure rites were held, a seven-meter section of the approach path damaged by August rains remained shored with sandbags, and the shrine says repairs are targeted within the fiscal year in consultation with authorities.