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🏮 Ningen Shogi

人間将棋

Tendo, Yamagata (舞鶴山) · Every year on the 3rd Saturday of April

Traditional performing arts

215 days to go
Rooms around Tendo, Yamagata fill up while the festival is on.

Human Shogi, held at the summit plaza of Maizuru-yama in Tendo City, Yamagata Prefecture, is the central event of the Tendo Cherry Blossom Festival. On a stage set on Maizuru-yama, where about 2,000 cherry trees bloom, warriors in armor and kimono and attendant women serve as shogi pieces, recreating an actual match. This event began in 1956 (Showa 31) and will reach its 71st edition in Reiwa 8, making it a festival with a long history. Professional players from the Japan Shogi Association appear, and it is cherished as a traditional event representing spring in Tendo. Highlights include the grand procession and martial demonstrations by the piece-warriors followed by the actual match, as well as a shogi memorial service, teaching games by professional players, and Tendo Fifty-Board Play, among a variety of shogi-related activities. Human Shogi enjoyed at a famous cherry blossom spot has become a seasonal sight unique to Tendo.

Getting there

To reach the venue, the Maizuru-yama summit plaza, it is about a 15-minute walk or about a 5-minute taxi ride from JR Tendo Station. By car, parking is limited, so use of public transportation is recommended.