Imamiya Ebisu's Tōka Ebisu, 9 to 11 January, draws over a million people for lucky bamboo handed out by "fuku-musume" girls to the chant "商売繁昌で笹持って来い". Osaka custom adds a second "nen-oshi" prayer at the back (north side) of the main hall, where the shrine keeps a separate offering box.
Why it's unique
Tōka Ebisu is held elsewhere; the scale and the back-door "nen-oshi" prayer are the Osaka thing, so the claim is held at country.
What you do is the local double prayer: front of the hall with the crowd, then round to the back to bang the gong and say it again.
Before you go
Do the front prayer, walk round to the back, bang the gong and repeat yourself. Residents' folk explanation is that Ebisu is hard of hearing; another is that the hall faces south, away from the merchant district of Semba.
The 10th (Hon-Ebisu) is the crush; the evening of the 11th is calmer. Details for the next festival go up around 1 November.
