A grand festival is held at Nikko Toshogu Shrine twice a year, and in October, includes the Shinto ritual offering of “Yabusame”, firing arrows at targets from atop galloping horses, and the “Togyosai” called “Hyakumonozoroi Sennin Musha Gyoretsu”, in which participants reenact the procession from Sunpu Kuno-zan to Nikko for the reburial of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
In particular, the Hyakumonozoroi Sennin Musha Gyoretsu, during which all 1,200 participants go up and down the road leading to the shrine, surrounding the portable shrine, will really make you believe you have traveled back to the Edo Period.
Festival schedule
October 16
- Around 1pm: Shinto ritual, Yabusame (horseback archery)
- (Yabusame starts around 1:30pm; duration about one hour)
- Location: Omotesando
October 17
- Around 11am: “The Procession of 1,000 Warriors” (route: Toshogu Shrine → Omotesando → Otabisho)
- 12pm: Gotabisho Festival (Three-Tiered Seventy-Five-Course Banquet, Dance of the Eight Maidens, Dance of the Eastern Journey)
- Around 1pm: Return procession (route: Otabisho → Omotesando → Toshogu Shrine)
- Location: Omotesando and other locations
