Mushiokuri in Tomioku Area

The torch procession to drive away crop-eating insects in Tomioku Area is held on a Saturday immediately before July 20 each year. In the evening, 14 town associations in the area depart from the shrine in each town. A person carrying a large paper lantern on a pole with the name of each town written on it and a person with a drum lead the parade of children walking with torches, and they all march to a large torch placed in the square. At 8:00PM, the large torch is lighted and drums are beaten. After that, a children's sumo competition starts in the special ring. They had sumo competitions for adults a long time ago, and many sumo wrestlers gathered from around the prefecture.