Kanda Matsuri

The Kanda Matsuri is a festival held at Kanda Myōjin (Kanda Shrine) in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. It is counted, alongside Kyoto's Gion Festival and Osaka's Tenjin Festival, as one of Japan's "three great festivals," and together with the Sannō Festival and Fukagawa Festival as one of the "three great festivals of Edo"—a grand festival representative of Edo. The main festival is held in mid-May once every two years.

Kanda Myōjin is a venerable shrine that has long commanded the faith of the people as the guardian shrine of Edo. In the Edo period, because the Tokugawa shogunal house viewed it, the Kanda Matsuri was also called the "Tenka Matsuri" (shogunal festival)—a prestigious festival whose floats were permitted to enter the castle grounds. Touring a vast parish district covering the heart of Tokyo—Kanda, Nihonbashi, Akihabara, Ōtemachi, Marunouchi, and more—it is truly a festival of the great metropolis.

The festival's greatest highlight is the "Shinkōsai" held on the first day of the main festival. A splendid festival procession of around 500 people stretching some 300 meters, centered on the imperial palanquin and portable shrines, tours the parish district over the course of a full day. On the second day, the "Mikoshi Miyairi" is held, in which around 100 portable shrines from the various neighborhood associations gather at Kanda Myōjin, and the fervor of the spirited bearers fills the precincts. Parading a festival dating from Edo through the streets of Tokyo where tradition and the modern coexist, the Kanda Matsuri is a vibrant festival coloring the capital's early summer.