🍚 Kamasu-sushi (barracuda-sushi)

The Kora Taisha Festival (Korasan-Kunchi) held at the Kora Taisha Shrine, the number one shrine in Chikugo Province, is a festival that combines the celebration of Chou-you Festival and the autumn harvest festival. Chou-you is 9th of September in the old calendar and is considered to be a lucky day and is also known as "Kikuno-sekku". Korasan-Kunchi is a historic festival that has been worshipped by the lord of the Kurume domain since the Edo period (1603-1868). It is the most enjoyable autumn event for the people of the Chikushi Plain and attracts many visitors. It is said that both sides of the shrine approach were crowded with stalls selling "Kamasu-sushi" and Sekihan with chestnuts. Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, which enshrines Sugawara no Michizane, also holds an autumn festival (Kitano-Kunchi). The festival is linked to the autumn harvest, and villagers fill up new Kamasu bag with new rice and dedicate them to the shrine in thanksgiving. Kamasu-bag is a bag made of straw woven into two folds and tied with a rope. Just at this time of year, Kamasu-fish are in season and fatty and tasty. Because of the similarity between the words Kamasu-bag which is used in offerings to shrines, and Kamasu-fish, it has been passed down from generation to generation as a religious practice among farmers, who began making "Kamasu-sushi" during the fall festival.