Sanno matsuri (Sanno Festival)

The Sanno Festival, an event of the Hie Shrine in Nagatacho (central Tokyo), is one of the big three festivals in Tokyo, along with the Kanda Festival and the Fukagawa Festival. The shrine was originally constructed for the guardian deities of Edo Castle in the late 1400s, and during the Edo period (1603-1867), the shrine continued to be a first-class place of worship with aristocratic status. By order of the Edo government in 1681 and continuing today, large-scale festivals (honmatsuri) are to be held on alternating years by Kanda Shrine (odd years) and Hie Shrine (even years). During the Edo period, the Sanno Festival honmatsuri included a magnificent parade of people in aristocratic finery and portable shrines that meandered through the castle grounds for the Shogun to view.

Sunday, June 7th – Wednesday, June 17th
The main ceremony of the Sanno Festival, called reisai, will be conducted on Monday, June 15th this year. The ceremony of praying for the peace and security of the region and of the nation is held, and Shinto music is also performed. During the festival, various rituals and traditional events take place, such as chinowakuguri, the ritual of passing through a huge rope ring to cleanse oneself of impurities, chigo gyoretsu, a parade of children in costumes depicting ancient times, and tea ceremonies performed by tea masters. Performances of Shinto music, Sanno Festival drummers, and Japanese folk dances and exhibitions of ikebana are among the many other attractions. And, of course, food stalls with taste treats are available.

Note:
2009 is the year of the smaller festival (kagematsuri) and so the Hie Shrine honmatsuri of portable shrines, floats and more than 500 people in costumes of the ancient aristocracy grandly parading through central Tokyo is scheduled for next year, 2010.