Kanagawa Prefecture updates “The Latest Festival & Event News
at Kanagawa” every month. We will be happy if our information
would be able to help your travel around Kanagawa and Japan.
Isehara Tourist Attraction “Dokan” Festival
Date: Saturday September 30 – Sunday October 1
Location: Vehicle-free areas around Isehara station, Isehara City
Access: Get off at Isehara station (Odakyu Line).
This festival is to commemorate Ota-Dokan, a famous samurai general
in the late Muromachi period, who had close ties with the city.
The parades of Ota-Dokan’s falconry and Hojo-Masako’s pilgrimage to
Hinatayakushi held on October 1 are the main attractions of the
festival. This year, these splendid historical events will be reenacted with
actor Noboru Takachi and actress Fumie Hosokawa playing the roles of
Dokan and Masako. The festival also features many events such as
an Isehara “Soh-le” group dance contest and a giant tug-of-war game
organized by local residents during the two days. This festival has
been selected as one of the best 50 festivals in Kanagawa.
For details, contact the festival executive committee (Tel 0463-94-4711).
“Guo Qing Jie” Chinese National Day Festival
Date: Sunday October 1
Location: Yokohama Chinatown, Naka Ward, Yokohama City
Access: Get off at Motomachi-Chukagai station (Minato Mirai Line).
A festival celebrating the foundation of the People’s Republic of China
(October 1, 1949).
Following parades of dragon dance, lion dance, and other Chinese ethnic
entertainments (12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.), a lively traditional
celebratory lion dance ritual called “cai qing” will be performed and four Chinese
lions will parade throughout Chinatown dancing and collecting red
packets containing money (tokens of gratitude for blessing) hung in front of
shops (4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., Chinatown).
For details, contact the Yokohama Overseas Chinese Association
(Tel 045-641-8606).
World Festa Yokohama 2006
Date: Saturday October 7 – Sunday October 8
Location: Yamashita Park, Naka Ward, Yokohama City
Access: Approximately 5-minute walk from Motomachi-Chukagai station and
Nihon Odori station (both on Minato Mirai Line).
At the waterside Yamashita Park festival site, there will be a “World
Food Stand Village” where visitors can enjoy representative dishes and
beverages from a number of different countries, an event introducing different
kinds of tea from around the world, a fashion show introducing ethnic clothes
along with representative music of participating countries, street performances, and much more.
For details, contact the Yokohama Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(Tel 045-671-7423).
Shonan-Enoshima Autumn Festival & Dragon Boat Race
Date: Saturday October 14 – Sunday October 15
Location: Enoshima and the mouth of Sakai River at Katase Beach,
Fujisawa City
Access: Get off at Katase-Enoshima station (Odakyu Line).
The festival features street performances, a street performance
contest, a live music show, and a dragon boat race based on the “legend of an
angel and a five-headed dragon.”
For details, contact the Fujisawa City Tourist Association
(Tel 0466-24-4141).
Ichiya-jo Nighttime Castle Festival
Date: Sunday October 15
Location: Ichiya-jo historical park on Mt. Ishigaki, Odawara City
Access: Take the free shuttle bus from Hayakawa station (JR Tokaido
Line) or Hakone Itabashi station (Hakone-Tozan Railway) to the festival site.
This event features onstage performances of “Hojo” drum and Japanese
traditional music, demonstrations of “chi-kung” and “taijiquan,”
a demonstration of a shout of triumph by an Odawara-Hojo troop wearing
handmade armor, as well as a garden tea ceremony (fee: 200 yen),
an Odawara lantern making workshop, and much more.
For details, contact Odawara City Tourist Association (Tel 0465-22-5002).
Suicho-no-Matsuri” Festival
Date: Sunday October 15
Location: Kawasaki-Daishi-Heikenji Temple – Wakamiya-Hachimangu Temple
and other places, Kawasaki City
Access: Get off at Kawasaki-Daishi station (Keikyu-Daishi Line).
This festival is a reenactment of a fierce historical drinking battle
that took place at Daishigawara in 1648 (according to “Suicho-ki,”
one of the “kanazoushi” writings from the Edo era.) The participants
are divided into two sides, Kawasaki-gata and Edo-gata. They then march
in procession wearing costumes of each character in the story and
engaging in dialogue battles, and reenact the drinking battle using
a huge sake cup. It also features a sake tasting contest and a
rice-cake scattering ritual in the precinct.
For details, contact Wakamiya-Hachimangu Shrine (Tel 044-222-3206).
Sontoku Matsuri” Festival
Date: Sunday October 22
Location: Sontoku Kinenkan (Sontoku Memorial Hall), Kayama, Odawara
City
Access: Approximately 15-minute walk from Tomizu station and Kayama
station (both on Odakyu Line).
The festival is held at places around Sontoku Kinenkan located next to
the birth house of Ninomiya-Sontoku, a prominent 19th century Japanese
agricultural leader (also known as Ninomiya-Kinjiro in his youth).
It features a lobby concert, a performance of the Sagami Puppet Play,
as well as a “Hotoku-ichi” fair selling and exhibiting local products,
a demonstration of “Shaolinsi” martial arts, a Japanese drum
performance, a talent show, an exhibition of hand-made toys, and much more.
For details, contact Sontoku Kinenkan (Tel 0465-36-2381).
