This giant boar head greets you as you approach the festival area. (Photo: Benjamin Stock)

Tamba Sasayama Inoshishi Matsuri

The Only Wild Boar Festival in Japan

Benjamin Stock   - 1 min read

The Tamba Sasayama Inoshishi Matsuri is an annual festival that takes place in late-January in Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture and which has been celebrating the wild boar since 2003. Festival stalls serve a variety of boar dishes, including a pig roast and burgers made especially for the event, and the area's local delicacy, botan nabe, a wild boar hotpot dish.

The main event is several races in which three young wild boar race down a short, cage-like track. Place your bets, start saving a seat early, and be ready for a very quick race!

Benjamin Stock

Benjamin Stock @benjamin.stock

I enjoyed living in Japan for nearly seven years. After studying Journalism and Japanese studies in Chicago, I first went to Japan in 2005 and taught English for two years. I returned to the States, but I soon found myself back again. My second time in Japan was only for one year, which I spent w...