The Wakamiya is a subsidiary shrine of the Kasuga Shrine. It lies about 100 metres south of the main sanctuary. The Wakamiya deity is a young god, officially named 'Ame-no-Oshikumone-no-Mikoto', a son of the main Kasuga deity. The Wakamiya Shrine is said to be erected in 1135 by order of the ex-Emperor Toba.

The Festival was initiated in 1136 by Fujiwara Tadamichi, Chief Advisor to the Emperor, praying for the good harvest and the prosperity of the state. It has a history of 862 years. In December each year, they prepare bamboo fence surrounding 'Otabisho', the festival site, and build up the temporary shrine for the young deity with black timbre and roof it with pine needle. The Festival begins as early as in July, followed by a variety of rituals, comes to a climax on December 17, when the Wakamiya deity appears.

All the light in the shrine ground is put out at midnight on December 17. The young god set out for the temporary shrine, accompanied by the servants with purified sakaki twig in their hands. The incense smoke fills the air near by. There in the darkness comes 'YOH-YOH-', mysterious call of the servants and the sound of ancient music. The travel of the god and servants looks like a small mountain moving from the sacred domain into the terrestrial world. This is a mysteriously impressive experience.

A great procession of 1,000 people starts from the Kofukuji temple, passing by the crowd of two hundred thousand, serving various ceremonies, and arrives at the temporary shrine.

The ritual service begins at 2:30pm. Then in the evening, various kind of performing arts are dedicated to the god, including 'Bugaku', ancient music and dance coming from the Asian mainland, 'Kagura', an indigenous ancient music, and 'Noh', which has its origin in this festival and is praised as the supreme stage art.

The bonfire is put out at around 11:00pm. Smoke comes up in the darkness. The sacred body of the Wakamiya deity comes out and goes back into the Mikasa mountains.

The post-ritual 'Noh' is performed on the next day and the whole festival comes to an end.

Presence of the god gives the most impressive and moving stage to the traditional performing arts derived from the holy festival. These performing arts are granted status as National Folk Cultural Asset by the Japanese government.

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