Kumagaya Fan Festival
(Uchiwa Matsuri)

The Yasaka Shrine Festival is held for three days from July 20 to 22 every year. This festival is called the best Gion Festival in the Kanto area because it is so rich in pageantry.

The origin of the name "Uchiwa Matsuri'' is told that the owner of Senshuro, a Japanese restaurant, started distributing them at summer festivals around 1902. Influenced by the Tenno Festival, which was known for its uchiwa fans flying around, the owner bought Shibu Uchiwa fans from the long-established uchiwa store Ibasen and started distributing them at festivals in Kumagaya. The appearance of these fans was well received, and later, each store also put out fans with their store name and other information on them, so the festival became known as the "Kumagaya Uchiwa Matsuri ".

The whole festival begins with the "Togyo Festival" of 10.5 km, which lasts about 3.5 hours. On the second day, the floats(called dashi) and food stalls (called yatai) of each town line up for a parade. The second day's festival is called "Junko Festival". On the last day, all 12 floats and yatai gather together for the "Hikkawase-Tatakiai(pounding each other)", which is the climax of the festival. After that, the portable shrine(called mikoshi) returns to the main shrine, which is called "Kangyo Festival". The whole festival ends quietly in a solemn atmosphere.
This is a sacred festival that you should experience at least once.