Shimogawara, Echizen town, Nyu-gun, Fukui
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福井県丹生郡越前町下河原
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Third Saturday of August
8月第3土曜日
Office of the executive committee of OTAIKO Hibike
+81-778-36-1111
OTAIKO響実行委員会事務局/0778-36-1111
It is a big festival of Japanese traditional drum which is held in Echizen town in Fukui prefecture.
The powerful performance of the biggest drum "Myojin", 1.5 m in diameter and weigh 1 ton, along with the other various drums makes audiences feel a vibration of drums throughout their body, and captures the hearts of them with its overwhelming presence.
Oda town, where the renowned warlord of the Sengoku period in the late 16th century "Oda Nobunaga" was born, is famous for "Taiko", a Japanese drum, and it became a part of Echizen town by a municipal merger plan. The festival itself is not very old, which started in 1989, but the "Myojin Bayashi" performed to dedicate to Tsurugi Jinja (shrine) has a history of 330 years. "Hayashi" or "Ohayashi" is a musical accompaniment played at a festival, and "Myojin Bayashi" is derived from the local Ohayashi which was made in early Edo period, one of the highlights of this festival. A rare technique of beating a drum like rubbing its surface by short drumsticks (12 to 13 cm in length, 6 to 7 cm in diameter) is the main characteristic of the "Myojin Bayashi", and it is designated as the Important Intangible Cultural Properties by Fukui prefecture. It is believed that "Myojin Bayashi" have a meaning of celebrating a good harvest and giving thanks to every workers.
福井県越前町で行われる、和太鼓の一大フェスティバル。
直径1.5m、重さ１トンの大太鼓「明神（みょうじん）」をメインに様々な太鼓の迫力のある演奏が行われ、太鼓の響きを体全体で感じ、圧倒的な存在感で観客を魅了する。
織田信長出生の町と言われる織田町は太鼓の町であり、合併後越前町となった。この祭り自体は、１９８９年から始まった比較的新しいものであるが、剣神社に奉納される「明神ばやし」には330年の歴史がある。この祭りの見所の一つである、明神ばやしは「だいずり」という江戸時代初期に創作られた郷土芸能を引き継いでいる。直径６〜７cm、長さ１２〜１３cmの短いバチで太鼓を擦るようにたたく、珍しい特徴をもつバチ技で、1971年に県無形民俗文化財に指定されている。明神ばやしは豊作を祝し、働く者に感謝の意を表す意味があると言われている。