Chichibu Night Festival – Saitama

If you are in Tokyo or Saitama today and have no plans – head over to the Western Saitama city of Chichibu and enjoy their massive Night Festival, the Chichibuyomatsuri (秩父夜祭)! One of the few full on festivals taking place in the winter here in Kanto. This year is exceptionally cold so that means even thinner crowds for those of you that prefer to be around fewer people. I was there last night and took these pictures. Last night was the teaser for the main event which takes place tonight, when all of the huge (they really are much bigger than normal) dashi (festival carts) come out. Last night there were only three of these monsters being puller around the little town of Chichibu but fantastically looking young members of the community. The carts are very expensive and decked out in perfectly with paper lanterns containing real candles. I’ll post more photos later on, but for now please enjoy these handsome men and the gorgeous young ladies taking part in one of the best festivals of the Kanto area! There’s even going to be fireworks! Getting there is a little complicated, it’s about two hours on the local trains from Ikebukuro, or you can splash out on the express which is faster but more expensive. Well worth the trip though!