🏮 Kurayami Matsuri

くらやみ祭

Fuchu, Tokyo (Okunitama Shrine) · 30 April to 6 May

MikoshiTraditional performing artsFloats

228 days to go
Rooms around Fuchu, Tokyo fill up while the festival is on.

KuraYami Matsuri is held at Okunitama Shrine in Fuchu City, Tokyo, from April 30 to May 6. It is a major annual festival originating from the Kokufu Festival of Musashi Province, and in 2010 it was designated an intangible folk cultural property of Tokyo. About 700,000 people visit during the period, and it is known as Fuchu City's central spring event. The name "KuraYami Matsuri" comes from an old Shinto ritual tradition in which the mikoshi (portable shrine) was carried in darkness, with city lights extinguished, so that the sacred spirit would not be seen by human eyes. In a Muromachi-period document it is recorded as "Gogatsu-e," and it is a festival with over a thousand years of history and formality. The highlight is the mikoshi procession called "Oide" on May 5, when eight mikoshi and six large drums parade through central Fuchu to the signal of fireworks. During the period, various other events unfold, including the "Komakurabe" horse race with about a thousand years of history held on the old Koshu Highway, competitions of Fuchu Hayashi music by floats from around the city, and the May 4 Mantoe Festival and children's mikoshi joint procession.