Nara City Tourism Association

Uneme Shrine is a sub-shrine of the World Heritage Site Kasugataisha Shrine, located on the banks of Sarusawa-ike Pond. 

According to the Yamato Monogatari, a mid-Heian song story, the shrine was built to console the spirit of a Uneme (a court lady who attended to the Emperor's personal needs) who threw herself into the pond during the Nara period, lamenting the Emperor's waning favor. The Uneme-matsuri Festival is an annual event held on the night of the harvest moon to appease the Uneme's spirit and pray for the well-being of the people.

The annual festival begins with a "Flower Fan Offering Procession," in which fan messengers dressed in period costumes parade through the city. After the ritual at Uneme Shrine, the flower fan is transferred to a musical instrument boat. It is toured around the pond to the tune of gagaku music in the "Kangen Sen no Gi" ceremony, at the end of which the flower fan is thrown into the pond.

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