The Kamakura Matsuri is held annually over approximately two weeks in April at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, the spiritual heart of Kamakura founded by Minamoto no Yoritomo. The festival's most dramatic event is the Yabusame ceremony, in which archers in full Kamakura-period hunting costume gallop along a 255-metre track and fire arrows at three wooden targets in rapid succession. The programme also includes Shizumai court dance, sacred bugaku performances, a classical Japanese dance parade down the Wakamiya Oji avenue, and a mikoshi procession. The historic shrine precincts and cherry blossoms still in bloom provide an incomparable backdrop.
- Type
- Festival
- Category
- Culture
- Season
- Spring
- Month
- Second to third week of April
- Region
- Kanto
- Prefecture
- Kanagawa
- City
- Kamakura
Highlights
- ◆Yabusame horseback archery along a 255-metre shrine track
- ◆Sacred bugaku and Shizumai court dance performances
- ◆Classical Japanese dance parade on Wakamiya Oji avenue
- ◆Mikoshi procession through Kamakura's historic streets
- ◆Cherry blossoms framing the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu precincts