Sanno-san [Hie Shrine's Sanno Festival]

The number of warmer days is gradually increasing, but the breeze is still that of a refreshing early summer.
Located in the heart of Toyama City, it is a popular destination for many people visiting shrines for New Year's prayers and other religious purposes.

Hie Shrine is affectionately known as "San-no-san".

Every year, on May 31st and June 1st and 2nd, this Hie Shrine holds the following event:
Sanno Festival (Hie Shrine's Annual Spring Festival).

If you're from Toyama, you've probably visited this festival at least once!
During the event, approximately 500 colorful food stalls will line the streets around the shrine and throughout the town.

It's not just kids who get excited by the seemingly endless rows of food stalls, right?
Even now that I'm an adult, just walking along the stalls at the Sanno Festival makes me feel happy.

An essential part of any festival is...

あんばやし
Thinly sliced ​​white konjac is skewered, boiled, and then eaten with a sweet miso paste.
At the festival, the Anbayashi (a type of sweet) is eaten according to a system where you spin a roulette wheel and get the number of pieces that come up.
Wanting to eat as many as possible, I put all my energy into spinning the roulette wheel.
By the way, is "anbayashi" a name only found in Toyama?

Dondonyaki
It's made by topping a chewy dough with dried shrimp, chopped kelp, and bonito flakes, then baking it.
It's spread with sauce and folded into a crescent shape.
It's simple, or rather, that's precisely why it's a familiar taste that you never get tired of.
Many memories come flooding back.

おばけやしき
In stark contrast to the colorful and glittering atmosphere of the daytime, as the sun sets and the lights of the food stalls are lit, the Sanno Festival takes on a slightly mysterious and nostalgic atmosphere, combined with the reverence for the shrine.
When I was a child, I used to get so excited and thrilled by the Sanno Festival at night.
Haunted houses at night seem even more terrifying, so I couldn't bring myself to go in for a while.

This year, yet another new memory will be added to our collection.
The Sanno Festival for 2026 will begin this weekend.　　

For more information about the Sanno Festival (Hie Shrine Spring Grand Festival)
〇For information on traffic restrictions, procession schedules, etc., please click here 🔗Hie Shrine Official Website
〇For more information, click here 🔗Toyama City Official Tourism Site