A vibrant rice planting ceremony performed by around 100 people, including drummers and flutists, young women in bamboo hats, and beautifully decorated oxen, as a folk ritual to pray for a bountiful harvest.

On the first Sunday of June every year, a picturesque rural scene unfolds with around 100 participants, including elaborately adorned oxen fitted with beautiful saddles and young women called saotome wearing sugegasa (bamboo hats). This event is held to honor Sanbai, the deity of the rice fields, and to pray for a safe and bountiful rice harvest for the year.

Accompanied by the rhythmic sounds of drums and flutes played by hayashikata (musicians), the saotome (young girls), dressed in brightly colored flower hats and kasuri-patterned kimonos, plant rice seedlings while singing traditional rice-planting songs. Leading the planting is a person called Sanbai, who carries a split bamboo instrument known as a sasara, conducting the process and embodying the role of the rice field deity.

The "decorated oxen,” adorned with artificial flowers and golden saddles, perform the task of tilling the field. The sight of the hayashikata striking the drums with dynamic movements, occasionally tossing their drumsticks into the air, adds a powerful and captivating energy to the scene.

This tradition is designated as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage and as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property by the Japanese government.