The ushi-oni is a creature specific to this region of western Shikoku: part bull, part demon, part sea serpent, the precise anatomy varying by depiction but the essential character consistent — enormous, fierce-faced, and protective. Its role in the Warei Shrine festival is apotropaic: the monster parades through the city to drive away pestilence and misfortune, its fearsome appearance serving the community by frightening away what might harm it. The float that carries the ushi-oni is several meters long and weighs hundreds of kilograms. Many people are required to move it through the summer streets of Uwajima, a fishing city on the deeply indented coast of southern Shikoku. The procession takes place over three days in late July, part of the Warei Grand Festival that has been held here since the early Edo period. Uwajima is two hours from Matsumoto by limited express train — not close to anything, geographically speaking. This distance has preserved both the city's character and the festival's authenticity. The ushi-oni that walks these streets does not do so for tourism. It does so because the community needs it to.