🏮 Ako Gishi Matsuri

赤穂義士祭

Ako, Hyogo (Oishi Shrine, Kagakuji Temple) · Every year on 14 December

Traditional performing artsFloats

91 days to go
Rooms around Ako, Hyogo fill up while the festival is on.

The Ako Gishi Festival is held every year on December 14 in Ako, Hyogo Prefecture, and commemorates the raid by the Ako Gishi (the loyal retainers of Ako). It began in 1903 (Meiji 36), and with a history of more than 100 editions, it is Ako's largest event. It is organized by the Ako Gishi Festival Support Association, and the venue is around Ikitsugi Hiroba and Oshiro-dori. The main attraction is the Chushingura Parade. It starts with an elementary school brass band from the city, followed by sword-fighting demonstrations by the Toei Kenkai, the Gishi Musume Jinku procession, a daimyo procession, and the Gishi-den procession. After the floats that enact seven famous scenes from Chushingura, a procession of people dressed as the 47 Gishi parades through the streets. In addition, a memorial service is held at Kagakuji Temple, where the Gishi are buried, along with a ceremony at Oishi Shrine, which enshrines the Gishi, and a Chushingura exchange local products market. For the week leading up to the festival, events are held at various places in the city as Chushingura Week, and at the eve-of-festival event visitors can enjoy illuminations of Gishi lanterns and bamboo lanterns, as well as warm hospitality such as kasujiru soup.