The Kage Matsuri (Shadow Festival) of the 2024 Kanda Festival will be held

Kanda Festival is one of Tokyo's most famous festivals.
Kanda Festival is counted as one of the three major festivals in Japan, and is a famous event not only throughout the country but also around the world.
The Kanda Festival consists of a main festival and a shadow festival, with the main festival held at Kanda Shrine being the more famous, and when people say Kanda Festival, they are usually referring to this main festival.

2024 is the year when the Kage Matsuri (Shadow Festival) will be held.
This time, I went to cover the Kagematsuri festival and would like to share with you what I found.

The Kanda Festival alternates between the "Main Festival" and the "Kage Festival"

The Kanda Festival is known as one of Japan's three major festivals, along with the Gion Festival in Kyoto and the Tenjin Festival in Osaka.
The Kanda Festival is said to have been made a grand festival by Ieyasu, and is also called the Tenka Festival after Ieyasu, who unified the country.

The Kanda Festival alternates between the main festival and the Kagematsuri, which are held every two years. The main festival is a grand event in which the portable shrine is carried into Kanda Shrine.
Since the main festival was held in 2023, the Kagematsuri will be held in 2024 without the Miyairi ceremony.

During this festival, the portable shrine is paraded through the neighborhoods of each neighborhood association.
Basically, the portable shrines that are kept by each neighborhood association are paraded through the area.

Among these activities, this time I participated in carrying the portable shrine of the Kanda Izumicho neighborhood association.
By the way, you can see the mikoshi (portable shrine) from the Kanda Festival held in 2023 below.
The 2023 Kanda Festival

Mikoshi (portable shrine) carried by the Kanda Izumicho Neighborhood Association

Small and medium-sized mikoshi carried by children


Mikoshi carried by adults

When carried by adults, the portable shrine weighs more than 500 kg.
The area where it is carried is around Izumi Town.
The mikoshi will travel around the businesses and private homes that have sponsored the event.

The portable shrine starts with the sound of the Raijin Taiko drum.

The portable shrine is lifted up to the sound of drums and clappers, and begins its tour of the town.

The portable shrine is decorated with dragons and phoenixes.
Both are auspicious items.


The Izumicho area roughly extends from Showa-dori to Kiyosubashi-dori, up to the area where Mitsui Memorial Hospital is located.
The area is not that large, but there are many alleys and the mikoshi itself takes 3 to 4 hours to travel through.
・Leading festival music

・Moving around in front of Izumi Park

・Of course, there is also a children's mikoshi.

・No matter how narrow the alley, I can enter it.

・It's quite moving to see Yodobashi and the mikoshi together in the photo.

The main festival is scheduled to be held in 2025

Since 2024 is the year of the Kage Festival, 2025 will be the year of the main festival.
The main festival is a large-scale event that involves the entire Kanda area, so why not start planning your visit to Akihabara now?
We have also uploaded a short video of this year's Kage Matsuri, so please take a look at it using the link below.
2023 Kanda Festival Kage Festival