The shape of it
About
One of Tokyo's three great Shinto festivals and Asakusa's wildest weekend, honouring the three founders of Sensō-ji enshrined at Asakusa Shrine. Around 100 neighbourhood mikoshi and three one-ton main portable shrines are paraded through the backstreets by roaring teams of tattooed bearers, drawing close to two million people over three days.
Highlights
- Sunday procession of the three black-lacquered, gold-leafed one-ton main mikoshi through all 44 Asakusa neighbourhoods
- Around 100 district mikoshi blessed and paraded on Saturday in a tide of happi coats and chants
- Friday's daimyō-gyōretsu costume parade plus geisha dances and taiko around the temple grounds
Plan it well
- Come Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning for the densest mikoshi action around Kaminarimon and the Nakamise arcade
- Stay to the edges of the crowd with children — the bearer teams surge unpredictably and the lanes get extremely tight
- Nakamise stalls and Sensō-ji get packed; arrive via Asakusa Station early and expect transport delays
Where it happens
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