{"id":1673,"date":"2011-01-11T07:13:43","date_gmt":"2011-01-10T22:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/the-luckiest-man-is-at-toka-ebisu-festival\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T11:35:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T02:35:38","slug":"the-luckiest-man-is-at-toka-ebisu-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/the-luckiest-man-is-at-toka-ebisu-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"The Luckiest Man is at T\u014dka-Ebisu Festival in Hyogo Prefecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nishinomiya Jinja<\/a> is a Shinto shrine in Nishinomiya, in Hyogo Prefecture near Kobe, Japan.\u00a0Nishinomiya Jinja\u00a0is the main\u00a0shrine representing the\u00a0Ebisu sect of the Shinto religion and its\u00a03,500 shrines. \u00a0It is known locally as\u00a0“Ebessan,” and more broadly as “Ebisu Jingu.” Two\u00a0parts of the shrine itself are of note historically: the\u00a0front gate (omote-daimon), colloquially kmown as\u00a0the\u00a0“Aka-mon, or red gate,” and “oneri-bei,” a\u00a0large plaster wall\u00a0 are both\u00a0designated Important Cultural Properties in Japan to be cherished and protected.\u00a0\u00a0While the original date of establishment has been lost to history, the shrine has been mentioned in documents since at earliest the Heian Period, between\u00a0794 and\u00a01185 C.E<\/p>\n

Every January 10th Nishinomiya Jinja hosts its most famous attraction, the\u00a0annual \u201cLuckiest Man,\u201d or T\u014dka-Ebisu Festival, as a\u00a0part of New Year festivities to pray for good business opportunities.\u00a0The race’s traditions began during\u00a0the Edo period, in celebration of one of the seven gods of fortune, Ebisu. Every year more than 6,000 contestants gather at the main gate of the shrine on a crisp winter morning to await the drums that signal the opening of the shrines main gate. Once the gate is opened, the assembled masses rush the 230 meters to the main hall of the shrine. Traditionally, the first three to the hall are bestowed the title \u201clucky men,\u201d while the first person gets to be the \u201cluckiest man.\u201d I am not sure what that brings you perk wise, but it sounds pretty cool.<\/p>\n

Take a look at the video below; it gives you a pretty good idea of the mad scramble that is this festival, and makes it so famous!<\/p>\n

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Nishinomiya Jinja is a Shinto shrine in Nishinomiya, in Hyogo Prefecture near Kobe, Japan.\u00a0Nishinomiya Jinja\u00a0is the main\u00a0shrine representing the\u00a0Ebisu sect of the Shinto religion and its\u00a03,500 shrines. \u00a0It is known locally as\u00a0“Ebessan,” and more broadly as “Ebisu Jingu.” Two\u00a0parts of the shrine itself are of note historically: the\u00a0front gate (omote-daimon), colloquially kmown as\u00a0the\u00a0“Aka-mon, or red […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,68,59],"tags":[69,72,73,74],"class_list":["post-1673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-festivals","category-life-in-japan","tag-event","tag-hyogo-prefecture","tag-january","tag-kobe-city"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t