Kawagoe Festival

川越 (Kawagoe) is a town in 埼玉県 (Saitama Prefecture) north of Tokyo.

Kawagoe has many old traditional temples, shrines, statues and other structures standing, so it is nicknamed 「小江戸」 (Ko-Edo), whcih means “Little Edo” (Edo was Tokyo’s name centuries ago).

Kawagoe has connections to the first shogun, Ieyasu. When the shogun died, his remains were brought to Nikko for burial. On the way there, a ceremony was held at a temple in Kawagoe.
Ieyasu died 400 years ago…so this year’s annual Kawagoe Festival was special.

The Kawagoe Festival was held yesterday and the day before. We went to it yesterday. (Click here to see this images in a slideshow):

About 90 minutes north of Tokyo, we went to Kawagoe yesterday.

The giant floats is what Kawagoe Festival is famous for.

The excitement of the festival with the floats, traditional music, crowds and food can’t be appreciated with just photos!

These “lions” are a popular part of Japanese traditional culture.

The “lions” will take donations to the temple…and eat it!

It’s popular to let the Shishi lion “bite” your child’s head to make them “healthy and strong”.

Often the kids cry. Just like when cry when they sit on Santa’s lap, they’ll get over it soon.

This is a old traditional 火の見櫓 (fire watch / warning bell tower).

The bell in the fire watchtower can be seen in the distance.

A Japanese fire hydrant.

500 statues of Buddah. Each one has a different pose and expression.

「わたあめ」 (“Cotton candy”)

In the evening is when the Kawagoe Festival becomes more lively.

When two floats meet, they “battle” for the right-of-way.

The team that “loses” must back up and make way for the other team.