Setsu festival has been passed down since 500 years or so ago as a religious event to give thanks for the abundance of crops and offer prayers for the people’s health and prosperity.
Every year around the day of Tsuchinotoi in the tenth month of the lunar calendar, prayers are offered to gods through such rituals as performing arts and boat races on the second day.
Most participants are the island’s natives who come back for the festival, which has been designated by the government of Japan as a significant intangible cultural asset.