Top 10 Cultural Events in Chiba Prefecture, Kanto

A festival held at Sakura Furusato Square in Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture every April. Against the background of the Dutch windmill standing in Lake Inbanuma, about 700,000 tulips of 70 species bloom in vivid colors. During the festival you can rent Dutch costumes and take commemorative photos against the background of the windmill and the tulip fields. In addition, you can pick tulips to buy, there are street organ performances that transport you to the Netherlands, and with such one-night-only events as an illumination and a mini fireworks display, the venue is crowded with many people every year.

Narita Gionsai is a festival that takes place on the closest Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to Gion-e festival, held at Narita-san Shinsoji Temple every July 7th. Ten festival cars, floats, and a big portable shrine are brought out and paraded on and around the road leading to the temple for three days. The "General Dance", where all of the festival cars and floats are brought together, is especially bustling with young people dancing energetically to the music of a Japanese orchestra. The highlight is the "General Pull" on the final day, when all of the festival cars and floats are brought up the slope leading to the temple, in one go. At night, the cars and floats are lit up, enveloping them in brilliance and creating an atmosphere unlike that of the daytime.

Boasting over 1000 years of history, Yawatanmachi is seen as the biggest festival in Chiba prefecture's Awa region. Every year, crowds of spectators flock to the festival hoping to catch a glimpse of more than 10 portable shrines, festival cars, and boat floats from the surrounding shrines. All of the portable shrines come together at Tsurugaya Hachimangu Shrine on the evening of the final day. The sight of people shaking the portable shrines vigorously, over and over, is particularly intense. The festival is held in September, on the weekend before Respect for the Aged Day. In 2004, Yawatanmachi was designated an Intangible Cultural Property of Chiba prefecture, which seemed to make it all the livelier.

Every year, area residents come together for a fall festival on 9/23 and 9/24 that prays for a bumper crop and a large catch of fish. Sacred palanquins from eighteen shrines in the Ohara, Tokai, and Namiha area of Chiba Prefecture are hoisted by local men into the sea -- this remarkable event is called the "Shio-fumi." The finale of the festival is held at the Ohagara Elementary School playground, with the "Farewell Rite," where the palanquins are held high aloft and the deities are bid off until the next year, held here. The event has been held in Ohara for over 300 years and in Tokai for over 200.

A comprehensive event for users of Nico Nico Douga. A variety of projects jostle with the concept of "to reproduce (almost) all of Nico Nico Douga." In cosplay and games areas, stage discussions and live broadcasts by users, watching baseball games, projects in a variety of fields from entertainment to politics, to science and technology, exhibitors and visitors really come alive as one group. There is also product sales and a food court, you can also enjoy gourmet and shopping.

July 14th is the eve of the festival and the main event takes place on July 15th. It is said that if you worship at this annual festival, you receive the same blessing as if you have prayed 365 days of the year. In addition, it is called a major festival for safe childbirth and parenting. Inagesengen-dori street is lined with stalls, and on the main festival day costumed children parade through the town. The Juniza-Kagura dance, which is dedicated at the Kaguraden of this festival, has been designated by Chiba Prefecture as an Intangible Cultural Asset.

Japan's leading drum festival that brings together teams of Japanese drummers and traditional Japanese music and dance. On the day special stages are set up at various locations, including in front of the main hall at Naritasan Shinshoji Temple and Naritasan Omotesando, and participants gathered from all over the country show off their skills. The opening, in which all the performers play "Sengan Hana-Daiko" on the drums in unison in front of the main hall of Shinsho-ji Temple, is very powerful. "Naritasan Sennen Yobutai," performed by torchlight, is enveloped in a solemn atmosphere.

A flower festival held between late April and late May every year to coincide with the flowering of the cherry trees in Komiyama Shiroyama Park, Katori City, Chiba Prefecture, known as the best place to see cherry trees in the Hokuso area. Throughout the park visitors are greeted by about 1,000 cherry trees, such as Yoshino Cherry, and about 4,000 azaleas in full bloom. At night about 1,000 paper lanterns are lit, and you can enjoy a fantastic sight quite different from that in the daytime. On the weekends during the festival, crowds of people come to see a variety of events such as cherry blossom viewing concerts, product exhibitions, and street performances.

"Sawara Grand Festival" is held every year in Katori City (formerly Sawara City), Chiba Prefecture. It is known as one of the three major festivals in the Kanto region. A summer festival is held in July and an autumn festival in October, but particularly magnificent is the autumn festival that takes place in the Shinjuku district, on the west bank of the Onogawa River that runs through the city. 14 Floats, each weighing four tons and carrying large 4m-high dolls in the form of historical figures, are paraded through the town. A highlight along the way, referred to as "kyokubiki," is when the floats are manipulated in various ways, and every year the venue is enveloped in the steaming heat of the crowds.