Chichibu Yomatsuri
秩父夜祭
On UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Photo: ちちびあん, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
On a cold December night in the mountains of Saitama, six great floats blazing with lanterns are hauled through Chichibu and up the steep Dango-zaka slope, while fireworks burst over the town.
A festival of the night
Chichibu Yomatsuri is the annual festival of Chichibu Shrine in the town of Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture. Yomatsuri means “night festival”: on the main day, 3 December, the floats move after dark, hung with lanterns, while fireworks light the winter sky. It is counted, with Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri and Takayama Matsuri, among Japan’s three great float festivals.
Six floats and a steep hill
Six floats take part: two kasaboko, with tall canopies, and four yatai. The yatai also serve as stages for kabuki. The climax is the haul up Dango-zaka, a steep slope where teams drag floats weighing as much as twenty tonnes up to the square above.
Both the floats and the festival itself are designated Important Folk Cultural Properties of Japan, tangible and intangible, and the festival is on UNESCO’s Representative List among the Yama, Hoko and Yatai float festivals.
A date that moved
Chichibu Shrine records that the festival was once held on the third day of the eleventh month of the old lunisolar calendar. Today it is fixed on 3 December — so if an older account gives a different day, that is why.
When it happens
Chichibu Yomatsuri is held every year on 2 and 3 December. The 2nd is the eve (yoimiya) and the 3rd the main festival day, when the floats move after dark.
- December 2 – 3, 2026Calculated
- December 2 – 3, 2027Calculated
- December 2 – 3, 2028Calculated
- December 2 – 3, 2029Calculated
Visiting with respect
Good to know
- It is a winter night festival in a mountain basin. Dress warmly for hours outdoors in the cold.
- Crowds are dense along the route and around Dango-zaka; plan where to watch before dark.
- Do not photograph people without permission, and travel light.
Avoid
- Keep well clear of the floats while they are being hauled; they weigh up to twenty tonnes.
Sources
This entry was written from the following sources.
- 秩父夜祭Chichibu City · read August 20, 2026
- 秩父夜祭Chichibu Shrine (秩父神社) · read August 20, 2026
- 秩父夜祭（宵宮・本祭）Chichibu Tourism Association · read August 20, 2026
Related festivals
Takayama Matsuri
高山祭
Twice a year, in April and October, the old mountain town of Takayama brings out its lacquered, gilded yatai floats — twelve in spring, eleven in autumn — and on the first evening hangs them with hundreds of lanterns.
October 9 – 10, 2026Calculated
Gion Matsuri
祇園祭
Kyoto’s great summer festival lasts the whole of July. Its high points are the lantern-lit yoiyama evenings and the processions of towering yamahoko floats on 17 and 24 July, built and hauled by the city’s own neighbourhoods.
July 1 – 31, 2027Calculated