Shingen-ko Festival

Overview

The Shingen-ko Festival is an urban festival held in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, from the Friday to Sunday preceding the death anniversary (April 12) of the Warring States warlord Takeda Shingen. Its greatest highlight is the period procession "Koshu Army Deployment," reenacting Takeda's Twenty-Four Generals, and in recent years it has drawn over 200,000 visitors. Rather than a traditional rite run by local residents, it is positioned as a government-led event aimed at promoting tourism for Yamanashi Prefecture and Kofu City.

History and Origins

The festival originates in the "Cherry Blossom Festival" jointly launched in April 1947 by the tourism associations of Yamanashi and Kofu and the Kofu Chamber of Commerce. Held at Kofu Castle (Maizuru Park) to coincide with the cherry-blossom season, its final day featured local Aikawa-district residents performing a mounted procession in armor in step with the grand festival of Takeda Shrine.

As tourism became a major industry of Yamanashi after the war, Takeda Shingen drew attention as a tourism resource, following precedents such as Kyoto's Jidai Matsuri and Kanazawa's Hyakumangoku Festival that drew on historical resources. The first "Kofu Shingen Festival" was held in 1966, gradually developing into a structure centered on the mounted procession. Influenced by the 1969 NHK historical drama "Ten to Chi to," it was renamed the "Shingen-ko Festival" from 1970 and expanded to two days.

It grew into a large-scale "Takeda Army Deployment Scroll" with paid grandstand seating along a closed National Route 20, but was canceled in 1976 amid the oil-crisis recession, after which it was reorganized as a municipality-centered event. The 1988 NHK drama "Takeda Shingen" revived its energy, and it has continued to the present, adding splendor by casting famous actors as Shingen. In 2011 it was canceled for the first time in 35 years due to the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Highlights

The greatest highlight is the "Koshu Army Deployment." Led by a figure playing Shingen, warriors in armor portraying the Twenty-Four Generals form an army and parade through the city after a deployment ceremony at Maizuru Castle Park. The scale of participating warriors is among the largest in the world, and in 2012 it was recognized by Guinness World Records as the "largest gathering of samurai." Over the years celebrities such as Tetsuya Watari, Hiroshi Fujioka, Ken Matsudaira, and Ai Tominaga have played Shingen, generating much attention. Deployment ceremonies, the gathering of the army, and a mini reenactment of the Battle of Kawanakajima color the festival like a Warring States scroll.

Event Information & Access

It is held from Friday to Sunday around Shingen's death anniversary (April 12). The main venues are Maizuru Castle Park on the site of Kofu Castle, the area around Kofu Station, and city streets such as Heiwa-dori and Joto-dori. The nearest hub is Kofu Station, within walking distance of the venues, and direct buses run from the station's north exit during the festival. Depending on circumstances in a given year, the festival has occasionally been shifted to autumn.

Around the Venue

Kofu is home to Takeda Shrine (site of the Tsutsujigasaki Residence), founded in 1919 enshrining Shingen, where a grand festival is held on his death anniversary. During the festival, an incense stand is set up before the Takeda Shingen statue at the south exit of Kofu Station, where one may receive the smoke to gain Shingen's wisdom and courage. Kofu is also known for the Kofu Castle ruins, Shosenkyo Gorge, and as a grape and wine region, making it easy to combine with spring sightseeing.

Related Information

• Month: April (spring, Friday-Sunday around Shingen's death anniversary)
• Prefecture: Yamanashi (Chubu)
• Venue: Maizuru Castle Park, around Kofu Station, and other parts of the city
• First held: 1970 (1st edition; predecessor Cherry Blossom Festival from 1947)
• Record: Guinness World Record for "largest gathering of samurai" (2012)

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