Kamagaya Shimin Matsuri in Autumn 2024

In mid-October, Chiba Prefecture has a plethora of autumn festivals to celebrate the harvest. I had a hard time choosing as many communities have one- or two-day extravaganzas.

On Saturday, October 12th, I settled on 鎌ヶ谷市民まつり Kamagaya Shimin Matsuri, a civic festival in suburban Kamagaya City. This one-day matsuri, started in 1975, is today centered around Kamagaya City Hall. I took the Tobu Urban Park Line to get to Shinkamagaya Station, a junction for Shin-Keisei, Hokuso, and Narita Sky Acess lines besides the Tobu line.

In 2013, Kamagaya City invited 相馬野馬追 Soma Nomaoi, Fukushima’s celebrated mounted samurai ritual procession. The crowd was hushed at the conch-shell fanfare and the armor-clad riders and horses posed for photos on the parade route.

After the samurai horsemen returned to a nearby park, the exuberant 阿波おどり Awaodori, an imported tradition from Tokushima Prefecture, filled the street with the jaunty dance led by drums, shamisen, and fifes.

When the dancers made their second pass, parade organizers dropped the barriers so that festival-goers could follow with their interpretations.

Chiba residents who missed this one, mark your calendars for 2025 autumn matsuri season!