三社祭 The Three Shrines | Sanja Festival (Tokyo Metropolis)

Event Postponed Until October 16th - 18th in 2020

The Final Decision to Hold the Festival Will Be on August 31st

One of the Three Great Shinto Festivals in Tokyo

Sanja Matsuri (三社祭, literally “Three Shrine Festival”), or Sanja Festival, is one of the three great Shinto festivals in Tokyo. It is considered one of the wildest and largest. The festival is held in honor of Hinokuma Hamanari, Hinokuma Takenari , and Haji no Nakatomo , the three men who established and founded the Sensō-ji Buddhist temple. Sanja Matsuri is held on the third weekend of every May at Asakusa Shrine. Its prominent parades revolve around three mikoshi (portable shrines referenced in the festival’s name), as well as traditional music and dancing. Over the course of three days, the festival attracts 1.5 to 2 million locals and tourists every year.

Some unusual things about this festival

The Sanja Festival is rather a odd fish as there are an unusual amount of openly Yakuza participants! Also, though it is associated with Buddhism and the discovery of the statue of the Boddhisatva Kannon in the Sumida river by two fishermen in the year 628, the carrying of Mikoshi is a Shinto practice. So the Sensō-ji Buddhist temple was forced to not arrange or participate since the two religions were formally separated in the Meiji era (roughly the 1870’s). The Three Shrines Festival has been under kind of attack By the city government for the Yakuza participants both wearing clothing displaying their group affiliation, then stripping down to show off their tattoos, and some gangsters jump upon and ride the Mikoshis as they are carried through the streets. There have been city ordinances passed forbidding both showing gangster affiliation and riding Mikoshis. However, it seems the more attention the city government puts on the problem, the more onlookers and curiosity seekers show up and the festival’s popularity and fame increases instead.