Chichibu Kawase Matsuri

The Chichibu Kawase Festival (Chichibu Kawase Matsuri) is the summer grand festival of Chichibu Shrine in Banba-cho, Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture, held every year on July 19 and 20. Known locally as Ogion, the festival features eight floats in total, four kasaboko (umbrella-crowned floats) and four yatai (float stages), which are pulled through the streets to the resounding rhythm of the Chichibu float music. It is considered the counterpart to the Chichibu Night Festival held in winter, one of Japan's three great float festivals. While the Night Festival is a festival of the night, of winter, and of adults, the Kawase Festival is a festival of the day, of summer, and of children. Children take on the roles of the musicians on the kasaboko and yatai, as well as the hyoshigi (wooden clappers) players wearing flower hats, making it a festival in which children play the leading role.

The greatest highlight of the festival is the mikoshi washing rite, in which a plain-wood shrine palanquin weighing about 400 kilograms is carried into the clear waters of the Arakawa River during the grand festival on the 20th. The sight of the large palanquin, carried by 34 parishioners, being jostled in the Arakawa in front of the ritual site is said to wash away all misfortune, bringing the festival to its climax. It is a distinctly summer rite that conveys to the present day the ancient belief in purification, in which the spiritual power of clean water washes away sin and defilement.

History and Origins

The Chichibu Kawase Festival is also called Ogion, Gion Festival, and Tenno-sama, and is thought to derive from the Gion Festival, or Gion Goryoe, that began at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto during the Heian period. The Gion Goryoe arose from beliefs aimed at pacifying the evil deities that brought epidemics and disasters and praying for safe passage through the hot summer, and it spread throughout Japan from the Heian period onward.

The enshrined deity, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, was identified during the age of Shinto-Buddhist syncretism with Gozu Tenno, the Buddhist deity believed to govern epidemics, and has therefore also been called Tenno-sama. Linked with the legend of Somin Shorai, the deity is widely known for warding off pestilence. Many summer festivals across Japan are held in honor of Susanoo-no-Mikoto, and the Chichibu Kawase Festival is counted among them.

The reason the palanquin is carried into the Arakawa River lies in the belief in purification and exorcism, in which the spiritual power of clean water washes away people's sin and defilement. In Chichibu, even in eras when the town associations did not own floats, records describe processions going to the river to float cucumbers and offerings downstream while praying for good health. Carrying the palanquin into the river is thought to carry the meaning that the deity itself undergoes purification.

Furthermore, in the towns of Chichibu, from the end of the Edo period until the early Meiji era, a rite was held in which Gion pillars or Tenno pillars (pillar pines) were raised to welcome Susanoo-no-Mikoto and pray for the dispelling of pestilence. This was a rite to prevent the intrusion of evil deities that brought illness and disaster into the town, and this belief is carried on in the Tenno pillar raising rite performed at the eve festival today.

The parent shrine, Chichibu Shrine, is the general guardian shrine of the Chichibu region with a history of over 2,000 years, and is one of the three shrines of Chichibu alongside Hodosan Shrine and Mitsumine Shrine. Its winter grand festival, the Chichibu Night Festival, is counted among Japan's three great float festivals alongside the Kyoto Gion Festival and the Hida Takayama Festival, and is registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. The summer Kawase Festival and the winter Night Festival are beloved as the two great festivals that color the year at the same Chichibu Shrine, standing as counterparts to each other.

Highlights

The Mikoshi Washing Rite　The mikoshi washing rite performed during the grand festival on the 20th is the greatest climax of this festival. A plain-wood shrine palanquin weighing about 400 kilograms is carried into the clear waters of the Arakawa in front of the ritual site and jostled by 34 parishioners. It is a valiant rite said to wash away all misfortune.

The Procession of Eight Kasaboko and Yatai　A total of eight floats, four kasaboko and four yatai, are pulled through the streets to the resounding rhythm of the Chichibu float music. The sight of the gorgeous floats coloring the streets of summer Chichibu is spectacular.

A Festival Led by Children　A major feature of this festival is that children serve as the musicians on the kasaboko and yatai and as the wooden-clapper players wearing flower hats. In contrast to the Chichibu Night Festival in winter, which is a festival of adults, the Kawase Festival is beloved as one in which children take center stage.

The Tenno Pillar Raising Rite　On the evening of the eve festival on the 19th, the kasaboko and yatai gather at Chichibu Shrine, and the Tenno pillar raising rite is held to welcome Susanoo-no-Mikoto, enshrined at the Hinomisaki-gu within the precincts. The glow of lanterns and paper lamps floating up in the precincts is enchanting.

The Passing and Parting of the Floats　On the night of the 20th, the floats are pulled mainly along the main street, and the passing of floats on narrow roads and the parting that announces the end of the festival are highlights. These are valiant scenes unfolding to the accompaniment of the float music.

The Water-Drawing Rite　On the eve of the Kawase Festival, the water-drawing rite is held around the Myoken-buchi pool at Takenohana on the Arakawa. Selected young men draw water from the Arakawa, carry it back, and sprinkle it at the entrances and crossroads of the town, a purification rite that protects the town from disaster through the spiritual power of clean water.

Event Information

• Official name: Chichibu Kawase Festival (also known as Ogion or Gion Festival)
• Dates: July 19 (eve festival) and 20 (grand festival) every year
• Venue: Chichibu Shrine (Banba-cho, Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture) and the Chichibu city center and Arakawa ritual site area
• Floats: Eight in total, four kasaboko and four yatai
• Main rites: Tenno pillar raising rite (eve festival on the 19th), mikoshi washing rite (grand festival on the 20th), water-drawing rite (the previous night)
• Access: On foot from Chichibu Station on the Chichibu Railway, or Seibu-Chichibu Station on the Seibu Chichibu Line

Around the Area

Chichibu Shrine is the general guardian shrine of the Chichibu region with a history of over 2,000 years, and it is one of the three shrines of Chichibu alongside Hodosan Shrine and Mitsumine Shrine. The shrine buildings, rebuilt by Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Tensho era, are adorned with many intricate carvings, each with its own legend. The solemn shrine buildings themselves are a highlight.

The winter grand festival of Chichibu Shrine, the Chichibu Night Festival, is counted among Japan's three great float festivals alongside the Kyoto Gion Festival and the Hida Takayama Festival, and it is registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Together with the summer Kawase Festival, it is known as one of the two great festivals that color the year at Chichibu Shrine.

The Chichibu region is a nature-rich land surrounded by the clear Arakawa River and mountains, offering seasonal highlights such as the Nagatoro river-boat descent and the moss phlox of Hitsujiyama Park. Along with the festival, visitors can enjoy the nature and cuisine of Chichibu.

Related Information

• Chichibu Shrine: One of the three shrines of Chichibu with a history of over 2,000 years, and the parent shrine of the Kawase Festival.
• Chichibu Night Festival: The winter grand festival of the same Chichibu Shrine, one of Japan's three great float festivals and the counterpart to the Kawase Festival.
• Susanoo-no-Mikoto: The deity enshrined at the Hinomisaki-gu within the precincts, identified with Gozu Tenno and revered for warding off pestilence.
• Gion Goryoe: The festival that began at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto during the Heian period, considered the source of the Kawase Festival's origin.
• Mikoshi Washing: The greatest climax of the Kawase Festival, in which the palanquin is carried into the clear waters of the Arakawa to wash away misfortune.
• The Three Shrines of Chichibu: Chichibu Shrine, Hodosan Shrine, and Mitsumine Shrine, the three ancient shrines representing Chichibu.

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