Chichibu Matsuri

Chichibu is a city northwest of Tokyo which has 64000 inhabitants. To get there takes about 90 minutes by train from downtown Tokyo. Chichibu is famous for it’s yearly Matsuri. The Chichibu Night Festival (秩父夜祭, Chichibu Yomatsuri) is the festival of Chichibu Shrine in Chichibu. It is held every year on December 2 and 3, with the main action taking place on December 3. The Chichibu Night Festival is considered one of Japan’s top three festivals to feature floats, the others being Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri and the Takayama Matsuri. Its floats are ornately decorated with lanterns, tapestries and gilded wood carvings and are accompanied by drum and flute music.

Today I am going to experience for the first time the “Festival” atmosphere in Japan. There is a strong tradition with Masturi in Japan which usually takes their roots from Shintoism and Buddhism religion. The Matsuri we are going today is a celebration for natural resources such as rice , sake and food in general. It’s a way to celebrate Nature one could say. My dear friend Hisako took me into a new adventure. Let’s go !

Getting there after almost two hours of train. On the last train we saw many people. You could already feel some excitement.

Chichibu station. On a clear blue sky day. In Japanese one could say “Hare no Otoko , Hare no Onna” meaning the man /or and , woman , that brings the sun. “Hare” means Sunny.

Let’s first dig into the food scene. Masturi are typically filled with small mobile food stall also called “Yatai”. You will often find food like : Ramen , Yakisoba , Takoyaki… Food that can be eaten on the go. They are so many Yatai where you can try the diversity of the Japanese cuisine. You won’t really find “Healthy food” here but Yummy and filling food yes indeed !

Yatai along a narrow street. Already many people but not quite as many as night time. In fact many people are still working as it is Tuesday afternoon.

Colorful Sweets , apparently famous during Matsuri time.

Laidback and happy atmosphere. It’s nice to see another side of Japan. Tokyo can feel quite “cold” sometimes as it is a busy city with endless working hours for many. As a result people are less prone to unwind and relax. But Mastsuri’s really have another dynamic , a more down to earth dynamic where families , friends and couples gathers and simply have fun.

Yaki Manju , or fluffy bread on a stick with sweet soy sauce coating.

Mask stall , mostly for the younger one’s.

Okonomiyaki , Hiroshima style ! So yummy food. One could qualify these as “Soul food”. Food that makes your stomach happy.

Family time.

Kimono shopping street.

Masturi are also filled with fun games to play. A good opportunity to forget your age ! Simply going back to kindergarden  🙂

Catching a small fish with a paper like tool. Not so easy but I got lucky to get one. I didn’t wanted to keep it with me as I knew we had a long day/evening coming up. By my dear friend wanted to keep it so we took good care of him and he survived ! “Yokan” / “Patrick” the survivor !

We needed a little break so we find a cosy spot to relax for a little while .

Enjoying an improvised “tea ceremony” with Hisako.

Learning the Matcha “gestures”. You have to make it foam and you have to follow a set of precise mouvements. Not so easy , no wonder why it takes up to 10 years to master the Tea Ceremony.

Matcha tea is a great alternative to coffee as it gives you energy in a more stable way. In fact Green tea has Caffein (Matcha has a lot) but also Thein in it. Thein coupled with Caffein create a more stable boosting molecule that is often more tolerated by people. Matcha tea is often paired with sweet food as they balance the “bitterness” of Matcha. The white balls here are “Daifuku” or fluffy rice balls with fillings. One with sweet bean paste , the other with Strawberry. All Homemade and so good. Thanks you !

Back to the streets now , the excitement is slowly building up and some music can be heard in many places.

Drummer crew with flute. The pattern played where hypnotical , just like some sort of trance.

The last preparation before the night show. Traditional Matsuri clothing here also called “Happi”. My otaku mind couldn’t stop thinking of Naruto anime for some reasons. Yeah it’s quite cliché I know ^^

Float car at the Jinja Temple. Theses Float cars are beautifully decorated and are actually very old. There is a small room inside of them were musicians can fit in.

In the afternoon and early evening, the six floats are displayed in their respective neighborhoods and at Chichibu Shrine, before they are being pulled through the streets of Chichibu towards the city hall from around 19:00.

Jinja temple already packed with people. The atmosphere was great , many Japanese will queue for praying at the main Temple behind me.

A bit of Sake , anyone ? Here they used Bamboo for storing Sake and also made Bamboo cup , interesting. We had a few glasses here which felt right. It was getting cold already. The night should be cold but hot sake can be found anywhere ! We should be just good 🙂

And the night is coming , changement of atmosphere.

Mystical transition with the moon and the fire lamps.

The floats are pulled but more than 50 people , the wheels are made of wood.
No pictures or videos can describe theses Matsuri. But the sound signature was interesting and quite different as one could imagine.

Firework !
The festival’s other attraction is its fireworks display, which lasts almost two and a half hours and gives you the rare opportunity to enjoy Japanese fireworks during winter. The “soundtrack” of the night was quite epic with these constant vibrations from the fireworks.

Inside the Float , performers are playing drums.

This one must be cold! The performers on the roof of the Floats don’t actually move and it was probably around 6°.

So many people all over , the police made a great job here to coordinate the constant flux of people. Apparently around 35000 people came tonight , which is half the population size of Chichibu town.

Hot sake on the go , good to get some warmth. In Japanese the word “あたたかい *atatakai*  is used to describe something that has the right temperature. Warm food and warm Sake are Atatakai ! 

The climax takes place on the plaza in front of the city hall, when one float after the other is pulled up the slope onto the plaza and they all line up.

Epic Firework Final.

This Chichibu Matsuri was an unforgettable experience. It was fun and colorful , with many yummy food and happy people all around. Matsuri most often takes place in Summer but other Matsuri can be experienced outside this season too. Make sure to check theses before planing a trip to Japan as it will really add up to the overall experience.

Now time to get back to Kichijoji where a 2h train Journey is waiting for us.
After that we can sleep well with colorful dreams.
See you for the next one friends.