🏮 Gishi Sai

義士祭

Shibata, Niigata (Chotokuji Temple) · Every year on 14 December

Traditional performing arts

91 days to go
Rooms around Shibata, Niigata fill up while the festival is on.

The Gishi Festival is held every year on December 14 at Chotoku Temple in Shibata, Niigata Prefecture. It is an annual event commemorating Horibe Yasubei, a native of Shibata known as one of the Ako Roshi (the loyal retainers of Ako). Local people gather at the temple, which is the family temple of Yasubei's grandfather. This day marks the date in 1702 (the 15th year of Genroku) when the forty-seven Ako Roshi carried out their raid, and the festival honors Yasubei, who had deep ties to Shibata. One highlight is that the wooden statues of the forty-seven Ako Roshi, enshrined in the Gishido hall in front of Chotoku Temple's main gate, are opened to the public only on this day. On the day, along with a memorial service, there are demonstrations of kendo forms and martial arts, recitation of Chinese poetry, and sword dances, as well as a performance by the Yasubei Taiko drums of Gomenmachi Elementary School. At dusk, boys and girls dressed as Ako Roshi swordsmen parade through the streets, including the Sannomachi shopping street, and at the temple grounds, the first 200 people receive free "uchiiri soba" (raid soba).

Getting there

15 minutes on foot from Shibata Station on the JR Hakushin Line, or 10 minutes by car from the Seiro-Shibata Interchange on the Nihonkai-Tohoku Expressway. No parking available.