We took part in the Kawagoe Festival♪
Contents
The Kawagoe Festival was held splendidly in Kawagoe city of Saitama Prefecture on Saturday October 19 and Sunday October 20, 2019. Kawagoe Festival has a history of more than 370 years and was designated a “UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage” in 2016. This time, we would like to introduce the Kawagoe Festival by telling you what was like to participate in it.
Kawagoe Festival
The strongest feature of the Kawagoe Festival is the numerous festival floats, which are gorgeous. On Sunday the 20th, 18 festival floats were carried around in the center of the town. “Hikkawase” occurs when the floats pass by and face each other in the streets. ”Hikkawase” is a contest performance where towns greet each other with their floats in a hayashi performance (a traditional Japanese orchestra comprised of flutes, drums, and handbells) when they face each other.
Both festival floats put on a great performance.
Everyone was excited.
People pulling the festival floats. They pull them along rhythmically shouting “so-re!”
It is very difficult to make the big floats turn! It takes a lot of strength.
After trying the float-pulling, we visited the meeting place of Saiwaicho. We were able to interact with the local people and hear their passion for the Kawagoe Festival.
Japanese Sake after hard work, pulling the festival floats, is so delicious!
The excitement reaches its climax in the evening “Hikkawase.”
The foreign participants who joined us this time.
No one had experienced pulling a festival float before. They enjoyed the Kawagoe Festival.
The above was our report on the Kawagoe Festival.
You can also learn the history of the Kawagoe Festival at the “Kawagoe Matsuri Kaikan.”
Please have a look at its history when you visit Kawagoe.
| URL | https://www.kawagoematsuri.jp/English/index.html |
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The information herein is as of Oct 2019
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att.JAPAN Editorial Team
att.JAPAN consists of members in their 20s and 30s, and we are all travel lovers. In addition to information about sightseeing and great dishes all over Japan, we offer a wide range of information about various subjects/topics, such as onsen (hot spring) and ryokan hotels. We introduce lots of information only att.JAPAN can offer, including information about famous sightseeing spots, the latest news about new facilities all over Japan and rare less-known areas in Tokyo, one-day model walking courses, and anime pilgrimages. We also offer contents to introduce Japan from the view of writers from abroad.
