Chichibu's Weaving Story: A Journey of Tradition and Festival

We will visit the Chichibu Meisen Museum, which showcases kimono that became popular in Japan as casual and stylish clothing about 100 to 130 years ago. Participants will also experience making coasters.

We will guide you to the slope where the floats are pulled up during the climax of the Chichibu Night Festival.

We will guide you along 'Banba Street,' the stone-paved approach to Chichibu Shrine. This street is lined with numerous modern buildings constructed during the late Taisho to early Showa period, about 100 years ago.

The Chichibu Night Festival is known as one of Japan's three great float festivals, alongside the Gion Festival in Kyoto and the Takayama Festival in Hida. It is a representative Japanese festival with a history spanning over 300 years. Held every December, the Chichibu Night Festival is a magnificent and dynamic event featuring splendidly adorned floats and fireworks as its highlights. It is also registered as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. The 'Chichibu Festival Hall' is a place where you can experience the charm of the Chichibu Night Festival at any time. You can view the elaborately crafted kasahoko floats and decorative floats on display. Additionally, projection mapping provides a virtual experience of the float procession and the lively atmosphere of the festival, immersing you in its sights and sounds.

We will guide you along a street that once housed numerous wholesalers of Chichibu Meisen. Retaining the atmosphere of the early Showa period, this street is lined with valuable commercial buildings designated as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties by the Japanese government.

Like Kuromon Street, we will guide you through Kaitsuisho Street, which is also lined with buildings related to Chichibu Meisen.

We will explore buildings and storehouses of Meisen wholesalers that thrived 100 to 120 years ago.

Believed to have been founded over 2,100 years ago, this shrine is renowned for its sacred atmosphere and exquisite carvings. It serves as the focal point of the Chichibu Night Festival and symbolizes the region's culture and faith. The carvings adorning the main hall were created by Hidari Jingorō, a renowned craftsman of the Edo period. Visitors can admire unique and auspicious carvings such as the 'Linked Dragon,' the 'Tigers of Fertility and Marital Harmony,' and the 'Energetic Three Monkeys,' which are engraved on various sides of the shrine. You can also enjoy drawing fortune slips (omikuji) made of silk cocoons or using water for a special experience.