Have you seen this shrunk lantern at Kaminarimon gate? They do this only for three days in a year so that Mikoshi could be carried through under the gate during Sanja Festival.
Sanja Festival of Asakusa Shrine is one of the most popular festival in Tokyo. It is said that started in 1312 based on the legend on the shrine.
It is scheduled in the middle of May and known as the festival that tells summer to Tokyo residents. This year’s festival is from May 19 to 21. It was hot. Each mikoshi which is carried by the local town community people started from the shrine to their town. Along the streets they were cheered by festival lovers from all over Japan and tourists.
About 100 local town mikoshi were carried on Saturdsy. On Sunday three main mikoshi from the shrine were carried out, which was always the highlight of the festival. The shrine reports about 1.5 million people visited Asakusa during the festival period.
It is only for three days in a year! Do not miss it next year!
(May 20, 2017 with a guest from US)