Sanja Matsuri

Overview

Sanja Matsuri is the grand festival of Asakusa Shrine in Taito Ward, Tokyo, counted alongside Kanda Matsuri and the Sanno Festival as one of the three great festivals of Edo, and the foremost early-summer festival representing the Asakusa district. Centered on the forty-four parish neighborhoods of Asakusa Shrine, it unfolds over the three days of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday based on the third Saturday of May, with spirited and splendid portable-shrine processions as its main event. Drawing some 1.8 million visitors over its three days, it is one of Tokyo's largest festivals.

Retaining the rich atmosphere of old Edo, the sight of three main portable shrines and the neighborhood shrines of each parish district parading through the streets of Asakusa embodies the spirit of the downtown district. Set at Asakusa Shrine, adjoining Sensoji Temple, it is a festival with a tradition of about seven hundred years, deeply connected to the history of devotion to the Kannon.

History and Origins

The origins of Sanja Matsuri go back to the enshrined deities of Asakusa Shrine and their legend. According to shrine tradition, in the era of Empress Suiko, the fisherman brothers Hinokuma no Hamanari and Takenari were fishing in the Miyato River, today the Sumida River, when they drew up a single statue of Kannon in their net. Haji no Nakatomo, a cultured man of the region, venerated this statue and enshrined it, which is said to be the beginning of Sensoji Temple. Later these three men were enshrined as deities, and because three deities are venerated, they came to be called the "Three Shrine Deities," and their festival came to be known as Sanja Matsuri, the Festival of the Three Shrines.

The festival has an old history, said to span about seven hundred years. In the age of the fusion of Buddhism and Shinto, it was conducted as a festival united with Sensoji Temple and was also called the Sanja Gongen Festival or the Kannon Festival. Throughout the Edo period, the festival is said to have generally been held around the 17th and 18th days of the third month of the old lunar calendar. After Sensoji Temple and Asakusa Shrine were separated by the Meiji-era division of Buddhism and Shinto, the festival was reorganized into its present form as the grand festival of Asakusa Shrine, and its timing was changed to May, as it remains today.

In earlier times, in keeping with the legend that the Kannon statue emerged from the river, there was a period when the festival took the form of a "boat festival," in which the portable shrines were placed on boats and carried across the Sumida River. Although the form of the festival has changed with the times, the founding story of the fisherman brothers drawing up the Kannon statue still lives at the heart of Sanja Matsuri.

Highlights

The United Procession of Neighborhood Shrines

On the Saturday at the middle of the festival, about one hundred neighborhood portable shrines from the forty-four parish districts gather at Asakusa Shrine and are carried out in turn to parade to each neighborhood in the United Procession of Neighborhood Shrines. Bearers in colorful happi coats hoist shrines large and small to spirited cries, and the streets of Asakusa are wrapped in fervor throughout the day.

The Procession of the Main Portable Shrines

On Sunday, the festival's final day, the three main portable shrines of Asakusa Shrine, the First, Second, and Third Shrines, are brought out at dawn and spend the day parading through the forty-four parish districts. The sight of the main shrines, bearing the spirits of the three enshrined deities, touring the downtown district is the heart of the festival, and the fervor of bearers and spectators reaches its peak. When the three shrines return to Asakusa Shrine at the evening homecoming, the three-day festival comes to a close.

The Binzasara Dance

On the opening Friday, the Binzasara Dance, designated an Intangible Cultural Property of Tokyo, is dedicated. It is a dengaku dance using a wooden instrument called the binzasara, an ancient and elegant ritual performing art praying for a bountiful harvest and the expulsion of evil spirits. Differing in character from the spirited portable-shrine processions, this dedicatory art conveys the solemn side of the festival.

Dates and Access

Sanja Matsuri is held over the three days of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday based on the third Saturday of May. The schedule proceeds with dedicatory events such as the Binzasara Dance on the first day, the United Procession of Neighborhood Shrines on the middle day, and the procession of the main portable shrines on the final day.

Asakusa Shrine, the venue, sits just east of the main hall of Sensoji Temple. It is within walking distance of Asakusa Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, the Toei Asakusa Line, and the Tobu Skytree Line, or of Asakusa Station on the Tsukuba Express. During the three festival days, the entire Asakusa area becomes extremely crowded and traffic restrictions are in place, so the use of public transport is essential.

Around the Site

Asakusa, the stage of Sanja Matsuri, is one of Tokyo's foremost destinations. The adjoining Sensoji Temple, known for its Kaminarimon gate, the Nakamise shopping street, and its magnificent main hall and five-story pagoda, draws many worshippers from Japan and abroad throughout the year. Because the history of Sanja Matsuri is itself united with the founding of Sensoji, visiting both together allows a deeper understanding of the festival's origins.

Sights are concentrated around Asakusa, including the souvenir shops of Nakamise, restaurants full of downtown atmosphere, the riverside promenade along the Sumida, and the Tokyo Skytree visible across the river. Using a Sumida River water bus, one can enjoy the river scenery where the boat festival was once held while traveling toward Odaiba or the Hamarikyu gardens.

Related Information

Sanja Matsuri is counted, together with Kanda Matsuri and the Sanno Festival, among the three great festivals of Edo, and is a portable-shrine festival representing the downtown of Tokyo. Whereas Kanda Matsuri and the Sanno Festival are characterized by their floats and the prestige of the Tenka Matsuri, Sanja Matsuri's greatest distinction is its spirited portable-shrine processions by the neighborhood shrines of each parish and the main shrines.

• Dates: the three days of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday based on the third Saturday of May
• Prefecture: Tokyo (Kanto)
• Location: Asakusa Shrine, Taito Ward (east of Sensoji Temple)
• Deities: Hinokuma no Hamanari, Hinokuma no Takenari, Haji no Nakatomo (the Three Shrine Deities)
• History: about 700 years; called the Sanja Gongen Festival / Kannon Festival in the syncretic age
• Scale: 44 parish neighborhoods; about 1.8 million visitors over three days

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