Tanabe Matsuri

The Tanabe Matsuri has a history of around 450 years and is a held at the Tokei shrine in Tanabe each year on July 24th and 25th. 8 Floats (called “Kasahoko”) from the districts around the shrine are decorated with dolls and flowers and paraded through the town. The highlight of the festival happens late in the evening, when all the floats are pulled onto the bridge crossing the Aizu river and reflecting their lights in the river … but to be honest, i found that seeing the floats from close-up in front of the shrine seems a tad bit more interesting and entertaining.

Japanese summer are hot and muggy and i was sweating a lot at this festival. My shirt was all wet after the event and i was glad to get back into my car and switch the air-condition on. Sweating this crazy made me rethink my plan to go see the Osaka Tenjin Matsuri parade the next day (no way i want to be out in the sun during the day when temperatures hit 35C  and up).

Transport: Probably it’s a good idea to come by train. There seems to be very limited parking space available close to the shrine and i had to circle and look for a free parking spot for quite some time.

Website: The Tanabe City website has an excellent page about this festival (Japanese only) … and here is a website in English with plenty of details about this festival.