Annual celebration of Kanda Myojin or also called Kanda shrine. It is one of the Japan's major festivals along with the Gion Festival of Yasaka shrine in Kyoto and Tenjin Festival in Osaka Tenmangu shrine in Osaka.
The festival was designated as a formal festival by Edo Shogunate and called Tenka Festival (the festival for the whole country), the story has been told that the first Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa visited this shrine to pray for victory in a war. The festival of Hon Matsuri is held in odd-numbered years in A.D and Kage Matsuri is held in even-numbered years; generally, Hon Matsuri held in odd-numbered years is called genuine Kanda Festival.
The best climax of the festival is Shinko-sai Festival held on the nearest Saturday to May 15 in Shinko-sai Festival year. The procession with the portable shrine parades to purify
around 108 town associations such as Kanda, Nihonbashi, Otemachi, Marunouchi, and Akihabara. Unique groups or floats are included in the procession called Tsuke Matsuri, for example, a group of people costumed of the Heian era, and a huge catfish is pulled as a float, which is the highlight of the festival.
On the next day of Shinko-sai Festival , the portable shrines from the local areas gather to the shrine, which is called Mikoshi-Miyairi and Chiiki-Togyo , are held.
Highlights
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Annual celebration of Kanda Shrine has been held since the Edo period.
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The highlight is Shinko-sai Festival in which the portable shrine and unique floats parade.
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Hon Matsuri is held in odd-numbered years, in which Shinko-sai Festival is held.