When asked what is the most popular festival celebrated in Japan is, one that comes to mind is the Asakusa Shrine is Sanja Matsuri. As an annual celebration held on the third weekend of May, Sanja Matsuri festival is held to honor the three men that established Sensoji – Hinokuma Hamanari, Hinokuma Takenari and Hajino Nakatomo. Large scale parades, traditional music, dances, Geisha shows and taiko performances are among the activities lined up over three days. I’ve been to the festival 3 times while in Japan. It never fails. Despite it’s originally a religious festival, Sanja Matsuri is celebrated in a loose manner, so the streets are busy with giant crowds and perpetual loud music.
Everyone is having good time and challenges between the neighborhoods, each with it’s own Matsuri, are really exciting to watch. It’s like a dance, a perpetual wave of motion, up and down, side to side. The Matsuri’s are carried around each neighborhood for 3 days. On the final day the Matsuri’s are carried to the Asakusa Shrine at night for a religious spell bounding finale. I leave the shrine close to midnight exhausted.
Some Matsuris weigh several tons. I have a small one at home in a glass case. Matsuri are the fabric of Japan festivals.
A rare vantage point to capture the procession entering the shrine.
Everyone wants to carry or touch the Matsuri.
More images can be found at my Photoshelter Gallery:
Shinto Belief: Sanja Matsuri Festaval of Asakusa – Images by Jeff Henig
