Chichibu Night Festival

This yomatsuri (night festival) is one of Japan’s big three hikiyama (float) festivals (the others are the Gion Festival in Kyoto, and Takayama’s fall and spring festivals).

Chichibu Shrine itself has over 2,000 years of history. This is a great opportunity to catch an enchanting traditional festival.

What happens?

The large floats, apparently weighing up to 20 tons each, are festooned with countless lanterns and decorated with flowers and spears. Also, this is a rare opportunity to see fireworks in the winter. There will be a pre-festival the night before, with more processions on the main day — so if you’re staying in the area be sure to head down to the shrine.

Schedule 2024

The Yomatsuri (Night Festival) will happen on December 2 and the Grand Festival (the bigger festival of the two) will happen on December 3.

• Monday, Dec. 2 (Yomatsuri): Starting from around midday, floats will be paraded around the streets until around 4 p.m. Then, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the floats will once again perform.
• Tuesday, Dec. 3 (Grand Festival): Starting from 9 a.m., there will be floats performing music and dance. This will continue most of the day, but the peak will be from 7 p.m. to around 10 p.m. Fireworks will be launched from Hitsujiyama Park starting from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

How to get there

Chichibu is about 2 hours from Tokyo, so keep an eye on trains so you can get back in time. The festival is within walking distance of Chichibu Station, Ohanabata Station, and Seibu Chichibu Station. You can get from Ikebukuro Station to Seibu Chichibu Station in 1 hour and 20 minutes on the limited express train (extra ticket needed). There will be more trains than usual running on the day, but some will require advanced reservations, so make sure to book in advance to guarantee a seat. You can also jump on a local, semi-express train to Hanno and change to the Seibu-Chichibu Line there (1 hour and 50 minutes).