Saturday, October 27, 2018

Local Samurai Parade with hand-crafted Samurai Armor


Do you have any plan for this weekend?
Annual Hojo Ujiteru Festival will take place on October 28th, Sunday. This festival is a kind of new local event and it is the 7th year of the festival. The locals in Hachioji city started this festival to commemorate a Samurai lord "Ujiteru Hojo" who ruled the area in the Middle Ages. They hand-crafted Samurai armor and ancient style kimono by themselves and use them for the Samurai Parade of this Festival. It is difficult to tell by the looks, but some of the handmade armor was made with iron, same as in the Middle Ages, and weigh about 30kg!
In addition, every year some Samurai Parade groups from Kanagawa prefecture and Saitama prefecture join this festival, because the areas were ruled by the brothers of Ujiteru Hojo. Hojo Family was a powerful Samurai lord family in the Middle Ages and apparently the family bond was very strong. Then, locals from the areas started to unite again through local Samurai Parades. Now folks from Hachioji also join the events in towns connected to Ujiteru's brothers.
Since this festival is relatively new and held in local area of Hachioji, not so many people rush to the festival every year. So, you can enjoy magnificent Samurai parade and more performances without a crowd!

October 28th (Sunday)
From 12:15 pm to 3:30 pm
The Samurai Parade marches between Seisa Kokusai High School and Moto-hachioji Elementary School in Motohachioji area.
         Performances will take place on the school ground of Moto-hachioji Elementary School. (At Moto-hachioji Elementary School ground, there will be some food stalls.)

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