Koma Shrine Thanksgiving Day 2025

Koma Shrine celebrates its more than 1300-year history in a two-day event. The program begins with a variety of music and dance performances but the highlight of the evening is a candle-lighting event at 18:40. Visitors interested in participating in the candle lighting are encouraged to register ahead of time. They will be provided with a candle and materials to decorate it with. The shrine will also host a local sake bar and dish out local gourmet including Koma nabe (hot pot). Guests are encouraged to stay to enjoy the soft candle lights and music. The program ends at 20:00.

Festivities begin at 10:00 and run until 15:00. Stage performances run throughout the day including Japanese drums and samul nori (percussion instrument originating from Korea). Probably the most exciting event of the day is the tagafuap competition to be held at 11:30. A tagafuap is similar to the hulahoop. It's a ring made of bamboo used for making large wooden barrels. The person who can twirl the tagafuap on the waist the longest wins a prize. On this day, there will be 10 different curries to try, aside from an assortment of local festival standards. You can also shop for local products such as Sayama green tea, local sake, locally brewed soy sauce, and Japanese sweets.