{"id":3088,"date":"2020-03-31T15:16:28","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T06:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vhbloglive.wpengine.com\/?p=3088"},"modified":"2020-03-31T15:16:29","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T06:16:29","slug":"kanagawa-festivals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/local-area-guides\/kanagawa-festivals\/","title":{"rendered":"Kanagawa Festivals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One major part of\nJapanese culture is its festivals. These events are thrown year-round and each\none has its own meanings and customs. Many areas have their own version of the\nsame festival and their own unique ones that you can\u2019t find anywhere else. Finding\nout which festivals happen and at what time is easy to do, and the locals are\nalways happy to have new people enjoy their culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kawasaki Halloween\nParade<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This festival\nhappens about a week before October 31st<\/sup>, and it is free to the\npublic. You can enjoy the parade from the streets, or you can pay 1,000 yen and\njoin in the parade yourself. People wear a large assortment of costumes and\nenjoy the day celebrating Halloween festivities. If you want to get a good\nviewing spot you will need to get there early. It is good for the whole family\nand is one of the many parades that happen near Tokyo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kawasaki Daishi\nFuren-Ichi<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This festival\nstarts in mid-July and runs for five days. It is held at the Daishi Temple in\nKawasaki, and it features 900 kinds of wind chimes from 50 locations from\nacross Japan. The Chime market is open to the public, and you can purchase any of\nthe chimes (furin) you like. It usually opens at 10 am and closes at 6 pm, so\nmake sure you plan your day accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kamakura Fireworks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is a typical\nsight during the summer months, but one of the best fireworks displays in\nKanagawa is the Kamakura Fireworks Festival. This fireworks display happens in\nearly July. It isn\u2019t as big as some of the other festivals in the neighboring\nareas, but it offers a more laid-back experience by allowing everyone to watch\nthe display from the beachside. The one thing this festival offers is the view\nof the fireworks glistening off the sea as each one explodes. It is truly an\nexperience that anyone would enjoy, and it beats the crowded festivals of other\nplaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kanamara Penis\nFestival<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is one of\nJapan\u2019s most interesting festivals and takes place every year in April at the\nKanayama Shrine. It has become very popular over the years and draws huge crowds\nof foreigners. The festival is meant to promote healthy relationships,\nprotection from sexual diseases, and healthy childbirth. You can find candies\nand vegetables shaped to look like penises and vaginas, and the mikoshi is also\na large penis that is brought to and from the shrine. Once the parade session\nis finished you can enjoy musical entertainment and the many food stalls at the\nnearby Daishi Temple. It is recommended you get there very early as the line\nbecomes long quickly, and it becomes crowded on the temple grounds as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Enoshima Tennosai<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This festival\nhappens on the second Sunday in July. It is a famous local tradition that\nbegins at Yasaka and Koyurugi Shrines. It is famous in many areas of Japan and\ndraws many people from other places in the country. After the festival rituals\nare performed, the mikoshi is then paraded down the streets. It is accompanied\nby a tenno hayashi band, and they perform their chants and songs as the mikoshi\nis brought out to the sea. It is the best part of the entire precession and is\na must-see for any visitors to Japan. Since it is so famous, it fills up\nquickly so make sure to plan ahead and get there early. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Atsugi Ayu\nFireworks Festival<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This large-scale\nfireworks festival happens in early August and is one of the biggest in the\ncountry. It averages an attendance of about 500,000 every year, and it\nshowcases more than 10,000 fireworks. It is truly a sight to behold, and it\nhelps that the loading dock and the viewing area are close to each other. It guarantees\na spectacular view of the ensuing display. The finale is one thing of note as\nmany people enjoy the cascade of sparks falling to the water. It is very\ndifficult to find a decent spot so getting there very early is a must. There\nmany restaurants to visit once the festivities are finished, so you can enjoy\nmore leisure time after it is finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Odawara Cherry\nBlossom Matsuri<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every year in\nJapan, from March to April, the sakura trees begin to blossom and turn areas of\nthe country into pink oceans of flower petals. This festival begins around the\nend of March and into the beginning of April at the Odawara Castle Park. It is\nranked in the top 100 cherry blossom viewing spots, and the area boasts around\n320 trees. There is a special tree there called \u201cWeeping Cherry Tree of\nChoko-Zan Shotai Temple\u2019, and it is said to be 340 years old. There are\nparades, food stalls, and other events to enjoy during the festival time. At\nnight, they light lanterns that give a different feel and look to the area as\nwell. It is open to the public, and it is a medium-sized event. You shouldn\u2019t\nhave trouble finding a spot to view the trees and enjoy the festivities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One major part of Japanese culture is its festivals. These events are thrown year-round and each one has its own meanings and customs. Many areas have their own version of the same festival and their own unique ones that you can\u2019t find anywhere else. Finding out which festivals happen and at what time is easy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-area-guides"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}