A Japanese Winter Festival with Fireworks! Complete Guide to the Chichibu Night Festival

*This article was created for travelers planning to visit Japan, but it can also be read by those within Japan.

The Chichibu Night Festival is a winter festival held every year in early Dec. as a major festival at Chichibu Shrine in Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture. It is said to have been going on since the Edo period and has a history of more than 300 years. Because it is held during the time when the cold is in full swing, the light of the lanterns and fireworks stands out even more, and it is known as the "Winter Night Festival", which is rare in Japan. The main characters of the festival are six floats (food stalls and kasahoko) that parade through the city. The floats, decorated with elaborate wood carvings, metal fittings, and textiles, have a completely different look during the day and at night. During the day, you can take a closer look at the details of the craft, and at night, it is illuminated by the light of the lanterns, further emphasizing the three-dimensionality and power. Chichibu The festival takes place throughout the city as floats parade through the town, from the shrine to the final destination, the Obisho. Chichibu There is also a legend that the gods are welcomed to the inn once a year at the night festival. However, these stories do not determine the value of the festival. As a result of the accumulation of faith, craftsmanship and the solidarity of the local people, there is what the Chichibu Night Festival looks like today. In recognition of these cultural values, the Chichibu Night Festival has been registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage as a "Chichibu Festival Stall Event and Kagura". Not only is it a luxurious production, but the system itself, which has been passed down along with local life, is recognized worldwide.

*The following is a guideline based on information from previous years. Subject to change from year to year.

■Date: Dec. 2nd (Yoimiya) and 3rd (Main Festival)

■Fireworks: Mainly launched intermittently around 19:30 to 21:55 on the night of the main festival (Dec. 3rd)

■Fireworks launch location: Around Mt. Yoshiyama *The launch location changes slightly depending on the time of day.

■Venue: Chichibu City area (Chichibu Shrine to Innsho area)

■Floats: 6 stalls and kasahoko in total

■How to watch: Free viewing + Paid viewing seats available

From Tokyo Ikebukuro Station, you can take the Seibu Railway Limited Express Laview to Seibu Chichibu Station in about 80 minutes. There are no transfers, and it is an easy-to-understand route even for first-time visitors. However, on the day of the Chichibu night festival, things change a lot. After the evening, people tend to gather around the station and downtown areas, and it is not uncommon for it to be difficult to move immediately after the fireworks end. As a result, there is a risk of missing the last train on the day of the festival. Even though the distance makes a day trip possible, considering the crowds and the cold, traveling on your own can be much more challenging than you might imagine.

Chichibu The night festival is a festival in which floats parade in a limited area of the city. While the attractions are gathered in a relatively compact area, the flow of people is also easy to concentrate, and there are situations where it becomes difficult to move if the time or place is wrong. By understanding the general flow in advance, it will be easier to act on the spot. Please note that Chichibu Shrine is restricted from around 17:00. Even if you enter the precincts before the restrictions, you may not be able to leave the precincts after 17:00 because the ritual will be held afterwards. Be careful if you have scheduled to watch the night parade. I felt that it was more realistic to visit the shrine for sightseeing purposes and visit the precincts after 20:30 when the crowds calmed down. Also, around 17:30, there is time for Kasahoko to be displayed around the Honmachi Hall for viewing. During this time, you can see the kasahoko up close before the towing begins, and you can take your time to check the details of the decorations and carvings. Before the night crowds begin, it is the time to calmly observe the floats themselves.

Chichibu Ekimae Street is an area that is easy to grasp even for first-time visitors to the Chichibu Night Festival. It is close to the station and the road is relatively wide, so it is easy to enjoy the overall view of the floats calmly. The recommended time is around 18:00 to 19:00. During this time, you are likely to see the kasahoko being dragged around, and you can watch the floats move relatively slowly.

Saint Street is wide and relatively easy to view among the free viewing areas. The best time to see this street is between 7:30 PM and 9:30 PM. During this time, all six floats often pass by, allowing you to get a close-up feel of the distance between the floats, the movements of the people pulling them, and the excitement of the entire festival. Although it is crowded, the view is relatively open, making it an area where you can easily see the highlights even if you have to wait for a long time.

In front of Jiganji Temple, you can also see one of the highlights that symbolizes the Chichibu Night Festival, "Giri Turn". Since the floats change direction at the intersection, you can see the cooperation and tension of the draggers up close. The floats often arrive at night after 7:30 p.m., and the waiting time for arrival tends to be long. In the case of free viewing, it is necessary to act on the premise of taking measures to protect against the cold. If you use the paid viewing seats, you can calmly watch the "last turn" without having to take up space in the crowd.

Dangozaka is a place known as the climax of the Chichibu Night Festival. The sight of the floats being dragged up the steep slope is powerful, and the enthusiasm of the festival reaches its climax. This attraction is visited from around 21:00 to late at night. For safety management, the Dangozaka front is closed to traffic from 17:30 to 22:30, and it is not possible to approach it with free viewing. Therefore, if you want to enjoy this area thoroughly, using paid bleachers is a realistic choice. From the paid viewing seats, you can see the floats going up Dango Slope from the back or side, and you don't have to stand for a long time.

At the Chichibu Night Festival, photos capturing both the floats and the fireworks are popular, but you need to be careful if you try to shoot them yourself.  The fireworks are usually launched intermittently from around 19:30 to 22:00 and rise from around Mt. Hitsujiyama, but the launch position changes slightly depending on the time of day. Therefore, in order to aim for an angle where the floats and fireworks overlap, you need to find a shooting location. In the free viewing areas, the flow of people is intense, making it difficult to calmly set up your composition, so capturing good shots may be challenging.

Nights in Chichibu can drop to single-digit temperatures each year. Waiting for the floats can take a long time, and there are limited places to take shelter indoors along the streets or in seating areas. For this reason, the following items are essential.

■Down or thick coat

■Gloves, knit hats, scarves

■Warmers to stick

■Warm boots and thick socks

On the day of the festival, in addition to food stalls, local restaurants will temporarily sell stores along the roadside in various parts of the city. The fact that you can easily enjoy the food that is usually served at the store in a festival style is a unique charm of the Chichibu Night Festival. In addition to the so-called festival menu, you can also encounter flavors that are rooted in the community, which is one of the ways to enjoy this festival. Chichibu The following are the typical tastes that I saw locally.

■Miso potatoes
This is a local dish that represents Chichibu, and is a dish of fried potatoes drizzled with sweet and spicy miso sauce. It has a fluffy texture and is easy to eat even on cold nights, and has been popular with locals for a long time.

■Okkirikomi (a type of thick noodle stew)
It is a local dish made by simmering wide, flat noodles with vegetables. It is gently seasoned with miso and soy sauce-based, and the thick soup warms you from the core. It is especially nice for festivals in the cold season.

■Waraji tonkatsu (large, sandal-shaped pork cutlet)
It is a Chichibu specialty that tastes pork cutlet as large as waraji with a sweet and spicy sauce. Contrary to the impact of the appearance, it is easy to eat and has a solid and satisfying feeling.

In addition, the area in front of Seibu Chichibu Station is particularly busy, with many wagon sales and stalls. The food court in the station (last order at 21:00) is one of the places to escape the cold, but it is important to note that it is very crowded during peak festival hours and there are long waits for toilets.

If you want to enjoy the Chichibu Night Festival without any hassle, a tour of Club Tourism is a viable option. In the case of bus tours, the meeting place is "Roadside Station Chichibu". Since viewing seats are reserved and transportation is included in advance, concerns about crowds, cold weather, and returning home can be reduced to a large extent.  One of the main attractions is that paid viewing seats allow you to catch all the highlights and provide an environment that makes photography easier. For those who are visiting the Chichibu Night Festival for the first time or those who are worried about their physical strength, it can be said to be a safe way to enjoy it.