Inage Shrine is an ancient shrine in Kawasaki, with a large 1,000-year-old ginkgo tree as its sacred tree. The Kawasaki Sanno Sai (Festival) is the most popular August festival, and is a seasonal feature of Kawasaki's summer. This year, it will be held from August 1st to 3rd, 2025!
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Hello! This is the Kawasaki City Tourism Association. We will introduce the charms of Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, that will make you want to visit the city. ◆About Kawasaki City◆ Kawasaki City is a popular commuter town with 1.54 million people, located in Kanagawa Prefecture next to Tokyo, 15 minutes from Haneda Airport, a few minutes from Tokyo's major stations, and close to Yokohama, Kamakura, and Hakone. It is a big city close to Tokyo and Yokohama, but only known to those in the know, with shopping centers where Japan's main shops are gathered together and downtown areas where locals gather, allowing you to experience the real urban life of Japan. It is famous for its factory night view born from the industrial area that supported Japan's high economic growth, but it also flourished as one of the "Tokaido Fifty-three Stations", a post town on the "Tokaido", the main artery from Tokyo to Kyoto that was developed by the shogun who founded the Edo Shogunate, and is home to Kawasaki Daishi, which is visited by one of the largest worshippers in Japan on New Year's visits, and the Japanese Folk House Museum, which has 25 old houses designated as cultural properties. The museum of the popular anime "Doraemon" is also popular. Here are some popular tourist spots and events. ◇Kawasaki City Factory Night View This industrial area supported Japan's high economic growth period. At night, the factories that operate 24 hours a day turn on their work lights in the plants and transform into a fantastical world studded with jewels. You can experience this "factory night view" on a bus tour or a houseboat cruise tour. ◇Ikuta Green Space Although it is located in a city just a few minutes from Tokyo, it has a spectacular natural environment including rows of metasequoia trees. At the Japanese Folk House Garden, you can experience 25 old houses designated as cultural properties, and you can experience indigo dyeing, which has been traditionally practiced in this area, and there is also an art museum of Taro Okamoto, a popular avant-garde artist. You can also enjoy cherry blossoms in the spring. ◇Fujiko F. Fujio Museum, Kawasaki The museum displays original drawings by Fujiko F. Fujio, the manga artist who created Doraemon, a manga beloved around the world, especially in Asia, as well as the desk that Fujiko F. Fujio actually used. In addition, life-size items are installed, and you can actually eat the food that appears in the work, so you can enter the world of the work. ◇Kawasaki Sanno Festival The largest festival in the Kawasaki area, held every August at Inage Shrine, is a highlight of the festival, with a large portable shrine procession. ◇Kanamara Festival A festival at Kanayama Shrine held on the first Sunday of April. A portable shrine shaped like a penis is carried out, and it is famous for granting fertility and finding love, and many foreign tourists visit.
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Table of Contents
- Inage Shrine
- Kawasaki Sanno Sai Festival
- Precinct
- access
Inage Shrine
The exact date of the shrine's founding is unknown, but the sacred tree, a large ginkgo tree, is estimated to be 1,000 years old, indicating that it is an ancient shrine in the area.
The shrine was built during a time of constant conflict to worship Takemikatsuchi no Kami, deity of war, and to pray for the emperor's victory in battles and for future cooperation in mythology.
Kawasaki Sanno Sai Festival
This is the biggest festival at Inage Shrine. On the first and second days, the local portable shrines (Mikoshi) are paraded through the town, and on the final day, two portable shrines, one for a man and one for a woman, called "Kujaku" and "Tama", are paraded through the town, uniting with the local people. This festival, which represents the marriage and birth of the gods, is also a desire for new vitality to be born from the harmony between the local and foreign cultures in the town.
August 1st Eve of the Festival
The eve of the festival (Saigū Sai) is held in the evening, and prayers are offered for the safety and success of the three-day festival.
August 2nd Annual Festival
The annual festival is held in the morning. In the afternoon, the "Ancient Miyaza Ceremony" (a Kanagawa Prefecture folk cultural property) is held in private and solemnly by the chief priest and the head of the old parishioner family, which is not open to the public. During this ceremony, the goddess's deity is transferred to the Tama Mikoshi and the male god's deity is transferred to the Kujaku Mikoshi. There is an ancient tradition behind the way this is done, which represents the marriage of the deities.
August 3rd Shinko Sai Festival
Two portable shrines, the Kujyaku Mikoshi and the Tama Mikoshi, one for men and one for women, set out on a procession of parishioners, spending the whole day going around the streets of Kawasaki. Hidden within is the story of the marriage of the deities, their pregnancy, and the birth of their children. Carriers in happi coats run through the streets, shouting out chants, and the town reaches a climax as they join with the crowd.
The two mikoshi are welcomed by many parishioners and placed at the shrine entrance hall just after 8:00 p.m.
Precinct
The shrine grounds are bustling with many stalls, and at the Kagura Hall, kagura dance and other performances are held, livening up the festival.
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Approximately 10 minutes on foot from JR Kawasaki Station Approximately 6 minutes on foot from Keikyu Kawasaki Station
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