🏮 Gishi Sai

義士祭

Minato, Tokyo (泉岳寺) · Every year on 14 December

Food stalls

91 days to go
Rooms around Minato, Tokyo fill up while the festival is on.

The Gishi Festival is held at Sengakuji Temple in Minato, Tokyo, in early April and on December 14. This well-known Soto sect temple holds the graves of Asano Naganori, Lord of Takumi, and the Ako roshi (masterless samurai), and the festival commemorates the raid carried out before dawn on the 14th day of the 12th month of the 15th year of Genroku (January 30, 1703 in the new calendar). It is said that after killing Kira Yoshinaka, Lord of Kozuke, the roshi offered his head before the grave of their lord Asano Naganori, and the temple has long continued observances recalling this story. On December 14, stalls line the temple grounds and many visitors come to offer incense. From 11:00, priests chant sutras at the grave of Asano Naganori, and on the same day a procession of people dressed as the roshi, the Gishi Parade, is also held. The procession departs from the Chuo Ward Office around noon, passes the Kabukiza and Zojoji Temple, and arrives at Sengakuji around 15:00.