Kumagaya Uchiwa Festival
event
Event Dates
July 20th to the 22nd
This is Kanto’s top Gion Festival, held for three days between July 20th and 22nd every year. It is one of the most prominent festivals in Saitama Prefecture and bustling with visitors. Long ago, it was customary to cook Sekihan (red bean rice) on the day of the festival to ward off illness, and Sekihan was sold at shops as “Kumagaya Sekihan Furumai.” Later, Uchiwa (fans) were distributed in place of Sekihan, and the festival was renamed “Kumagaya Uchiwa Festival” thanks to positive reviews.
The festival starts with the 3.5 hour “Togyo Festival” (transfer of a sacred object from its place of enshrinement), and on the second day, the “Jyunkō Festival” takes place, in which stalls are lined up and floats are pulled through the town over a distance of around 10.5 km. On the last day, the 12 floats and stalls gather and face off to festival music in the “Hikkawase Tatakiai,” marking the festival’s climax. The portable shrine is then returned to the main shrine in this solemn atmosphere, and the “Kangyo (Return) Festival” is held, quietly ending the festival.
Basic Information
Map
Nearby spots
A shrine dedicated to the mythological god of agriculture, Takamimusubi. The shrine was destroyed by fire in 1590, and rebuilt by the lord of Oshi Castle, Abe Masayoshi. Annual festivals are held, such as Setsubun (seasonal division) on February 3rd, Tainai Kuguri (passing through the womb) on June 30th, and Tori no Ichi (Festival of the Rooster) on December 8th.
A famous cherry blossom spot since the Edo period (1603-1868) and one of Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots chosen by the Japan Cherry Blossom Association. Around 500 Yoshino Cherry Blossom trees bloom in great splendor on a 2 meter stretch of the Arakawa riverbank. During the Kumagaya Cherry Blossom Festival held from late March to early April, revelers can also enjoy nighttime illuminated cherry blossoms.
The Katakura Silk Commemorative Museum is built inside of Kumagaya Factory, the cocoon warehouse of the last remaining silk manufacturing plant of Katakura Industries, and is recognized as a Heritage of Industrial Modernization by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. To preserve and pass on the company's 121-year history of silk production, the museum displays the machinery used to produce silk at Kumagaya Factory, and visitors can watch the entire process from cocoon to raw silk.
At our hot spring you can enjoy low mineral content water typical of the top hot springs in Japan in a traditional Japanese-style outdoor bath. You can also use the ganban`yoku hot stone bath, reclining chairs, massage machines and the popular free relaxation area. There is even a high-concentration carbonated spring, which garners attention from the medical industry, making our facility the ideal place for a full day of relaxation.
Oshi Castle is one of seven famous castles in the Kanto region, built during the civilization years of the Muromachi period. It is known as an “Uki-jō (Floating Castle),” as it is said to have endured the flooding of Ishida Mitsunari during Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s suppression of Kanto. The story of this castle was the model for the movie “Nobō-no-Shiro (The Floating Castle).” It is currently listed as one of Japan's Top 100 castles. The “Oshijyō Gosankaiyagura (Oshi Castle Three Story Turret)” was torn down during the Meiji period and rebuilt in 1988, with the inside turned into an exhibition room of the local museum, and a view of the entire city can be seen from the top floor.