Kanda Matsuri 2010

On May 9^th 2010, I went to see Kanda Matsuri (神田祭) at Kanda Myoujin (神田明神). It is one of the three greatest Shinto festivals in Tokyo. This festival is a celebration of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s victory at the battle of Sekigahara and as a display of the prosperity of Tokunaga period. It is now also held in honor of kami in the Kanda Myoujin. (Wikipedia)

The main attraction of this festival is 300 people carrying the portable shrine and parade according to the designated route such as Kanda, Nihombashi, Otemachi, Marunouchi, and so on.

I didn’t follow the portable shrine, but went to the shrine instead. In the shrine, there was also some dance performed in front of the gate and also inside the shrine area. Besides that, there was also drum performance.

At certain time, there was soba making, and the soba would be used as an offering for the god of the shrine. There were many soba makers who made the soba, and 1 person perform different step of making the soba. Some of them mixed the flour and water, some of them flattened the soba dough, some of them cut down the soba into strings and some of the arranged the soba into a wooden box.