Kanda Matsuri returns

Kawagoe team at Kanda Matsuri 

The first time I went to Kanda Matsuri I didn’t have high expectations. I imagined the usual omikoshi and ceremonies. But the matsuri atmosphere carried me away. It’s boisterous and solemn, too.

Just recently I realized why this festival missed my attention last year. It’s because the festival doesn’t happen every year. Apparently, in the Edo Period, it got a bit too exciting, so the Shogun declared it could only be held on odd-numbered years. 

The festival is six days long, but the big events happen on May 11th and 12th when omikoshi from neighboring districts are all brought together at Kanda Myojin Shrine. 

Don’t get in the way of the omikoshi 

I wished I were on that blimp rather than in the throng.

The festivities run May 9-15 this year.