The festival began at the end of the Heian period, lasting for approximately 1000 years. In 1986, the Tonin gyoji at Tokoyasaka Shrine was designated as an intangible folk cultural property for its strict system of Tonin (the person in charge of the event throughout the year), and the preservation of diverse and rich annual events. Tokoyasaka Shrine is known as enshrining Susanoonomikoto. He is an ancient god who fought against a giant snake, known as Yamata no Orochi. He was born from the nose of Izanagi, the creation god of the Japanese archipelago.
The festival is considered to have been brought into the shrine to form a shared ideology and gain control over the people living in Tohoku and Hokkaido. During the Nara and Heian periods, people in those regions were called Ezo and were a target of suppression. Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, a founder of the Tokoyasaka shrine, was leading the suppression of the Ezo people. Back then, Japan was unified by the Yamato court, which was closely associated with the Japanese myth. Therefore, it is considered that Sakanoue no Tamuramaro brought the story of the Yamata no Orochi to the shrine to form the unity, and aimed to conquer the region.