As Tokyo welcomes the hydrangea season, this marks the start of the city's summer festivities. Traditionally, summer has been one of the liveliest times in Tokyo, with many of the city's districts and neighbourhoods hosting street parties and celebrations for us to bask in the balmy summer evening breeze.
Coincidentally this June 7-9 weekend, three different parts of Tokyo are each putting on a large-scale event of their own. They will all have a grand parade, where ornate mikoshi (portable shrines) are carried onto the streets in a procession that's just so mesmerising to watch. More importantly, these historical festivals date back to the Edo period (1603-1867), thus making them a living heritage of the city.
So be prepared for a jam-packed weekend. And if you're a photographer, these festivals are the perfect photo opportunity to capture Tokyo's vibrant culture.
Sanno Festival
Celebrated since the early 17th century and recognised as one of the three great festivals of Edo (along with the Kanda and Fukagawa festivals), the Sanno Matsuri marks the start of Tokyo's summer festival season.
The highlight of the 10-day festival is the grand parade on Friday June 7, running from 7.45am to 5pm. The spectacular procession will feature a colourful array of mikoshi, floats and elaborately dressed revellers cutting through downtown Tokyo, passing by the Imperial Palace (12noon), Tokyo Station (12.40pm), Ginza clock tower (3.30pm), and more. You can check out the parade route here (in Japanese only).
At the festival's main site, Hie Shrine will host a series of events, though many of them are small in scale. Nevertheless, there's the chigo-gyoretsu (Sunday June 9 at 12noon and 2.30pm), a parade where kids dress up in orange and purple to wish for growth and health, and the chinowa-kuguri purification rite that sees participants pray for longevity by passing through a reed ring. Check the schedule (in Japanese only) for all the details.
Tsukiji Lion Dance Festival
Held in its most spectacular form only once every three years, the Tsukiji Shishi Matsuri, or Lion Dance Festival, takes place over three days around Namiyoke Inari Shrine at the edge of Tsukiji Outer Market.
On Friday June 7 at 11am, you can join in a ritual to ward off bad luck and infectious diseases, while on Saturday June 8, you can watch Edo no Sato Kagura, a sacred Shinto music and dance performance from the Edo period.
The festival’s main event happens on Sunday June 9, when a series of mikoshi parade through the streets with the eponymous lion dance. The procession starts at 9am at Namiyoke Inari Shrine and ends when the mikoshi make their return to the shrine at 3.30pm.
If you can’t make it to the shrine in the morning, download this map (in Japanese only), as it shows the parade's route and the arrival time at each checkpoint.
Torigoe Festival
See a huge four-tonne mikoshi being shuttled through the streets near Torigoe Shrine in Asakusabashi at this traditional festival known for the intense fights that invariably break out over who gets to carry the monster mikoshi.
The main event is on Sunday June 9 from 7am to 9pm, when the mikoshi is carried through the streets. If you want to catch the best of the action, be here at around 7pm to see the mikoshi make its way back to the shrine.
Meanwhile on Saturday June 8, local neighbourhood associations parade their own, much smaller portable shrines around the area. Also don’t miss the food stalls that are set up along the streets during the festival.
For more amazing things to do this weekend, check our hot list here.
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