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 28^th, 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 28^th (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.)

Please Join Us at “Hojo Ujiteru Festival”!

Want to become a Samurai warrior for a day?　

Dress up as a Samurai and join our Samurai parade!

“Hojo Ujiteru Festival” is one of the annual local festivals in Hachioji City, Tokyo. Hojo Ujiteru was a historical Samurai lord in the 16^th century who ruled Hachioji area, and people can participate in the parade wearing Samurai outfits at the festival.

Date: October 22nd　(Sunday)　　　　　　　　　

Time: 10:00am-4:00pm

Location: Moto-hachioji area, Hachioji City, Tokyo

No Charge for Participation

☆Applications must be received by October 15th

Please apply via e-mails from my contact page

All applicants’ names and e-mail addresses are necessary to apply.

Contact: Yuko Takayama

 If you want to participate in the festival, or have any questions, please contact us via e-mail. We will provide you with the Samurai outfit. 

About Hojo Ujiteru:

Hojo Ujiteru was a Samurai lord during Japanese Warring States Period. Hojos were one of the major Samurai lord family at that time and Ujiteru was the third son of the head of Hojos. His main castle was set up in Hachioji and His territory extended to current Saitama prefecture at its peak. In the 1580s, he moved to Hachioji Castle which was newly built on Mt.Fukasawa (near the current Takao town, Hachioji city) because the location was naturally impregnable. However, a few years later it fell on a single day and Ujiteru was died in 1590

People Enjoy Seeing Samurai Performance at Mejiro-dai Festival In Hachioji City

July and August are actually neighborhood festival months in Japan. In residential areas, traditionally people organize neighborhood communities in every several blocks called "Chonai-kai". These "Chonai-kai" communities usually manage local activities such as festivals, and public space clean-up in the community, and share information. 

In Mejiro-dai area in Hachioji City, people hold a neighborhood festival called Mejiro-dai Festival in every summer. Food stalls are prepared by local shops and restaurants, and Mikoshi (portable shrine) parade and performances by local people take place at the festival.  In addition to the typical festival types of performances, people have a Samurai performance as shown in the photo.

The people showing the performance are members of a local NPO group at Hachioji Castle Ruins, which is one of the major historical site of the Warring States period in Tokyo. They have Samurai performances at various events and sometimes hold workshops such as "Handmade Samurai armor" for kids.

Their armors are all handmade. Each person in the Samurai group made their own armor. Due to limitations on maerial availability and usability, various types of material were used to make armor such as plastic, aluminum and steel plates for the body of armor, and leather, cloth, strings and old kimono for the accessories. 

For example, the person's armor show in the lower photos is made of steel. He said that it took about a year to complete it and as you can see in the photos he used lots of small steel plates and small steel rings to assemble his armor. Since he wanted to have a very real one he tried to make it in the same way Samurai armors were made in old times. The chain mail for the arms are made of small steel rings and he connected them one by one. Apparently the total weight of this armor is 30 kg (about 66 lb).

Of course most people in the group chose lighter types of material to be able to walk and move easily. However it sounds interesting to be able to experience the real heaviness of a Samurai armor. He can feel how tough the real Samurai soldiers were in old times. That would be cool!

This year, in 2017, the Mejiro-day Festival will be held on July 15th and 16th.

A Special Exhibition About Princess Matsu Was Held During The New Year Celebration

During the first week after New Year, a special exhibition about "Samurai Princess Matsu" was held at Shinshoin Temple in Hachioji City, Tokyo. I kept introducing about Princess Matsu on my website since last April. As I wrote in my previous post on April 10th and April 28th in 2016, she is a daughter of a very powerful Samurai Lord during Japanese Warring States Period in 16th Century.

Since last year, 2016, was the 400th Anniversary of her death, a special festival was held in the April and an old image of her, which was carved in about 1715 and was treasured at Shinsoin Temple, was carried out from the temple building and made a round trip as a parade to Shingenin Temple where Princess Matsu became the Buddhist nun after her family was destroyed.

The image had not been open to the public until last year, so a lot of people came to the 400th Anniversary Festival to see her image. Then, the Shinshoin Temple decided to exhibit the image again during the New Year's celebration this year.

The image was created after about 100 years after her death, but it is said that the image tells her appearance well. When I visited there, there were still New Year's decoration at the temple gate and a small Shinto shrine on the temple ground had Traditional New Year's offering rice cake inside. In the front room many photos of the 400th Anniversary Festival were displayed, then in the inner room the image of Princess Matsu was sitting quietly as you can see in the photos on the lower row above.

The size of the image was almost actual size of human being and the eyes were made of glass which gives her eyes a real sparkle. Her face had a peaceful look mixed with grace and dignity. Many local people were visiting there and putting the palm of their hands together in prayer. In the room there were many historical materials related to her such as her father's portraits, letters addressed to her, and her portrait painted in modern times. It seemed as if Princess Matsu has been sitting there surrounded by her belongings and watching over Hachioji all the time for these four hundred years.

Apparently the temple people are now thinking about having the same kind of exhibition next year during New Year's celebration. Let's hope we can have a chance to meet her again!

A New Stamp Collecting Activity To Learn Samurai Era History! "Go! The Hojos!"

I introduced a local festival in Hachioji City commemorating a Samurai lord Ujiteru Hojo in my previous post on October 25th, and in the connection I'd like to introduce a new activity event relating to the historical Samurai lord family started recently. It is a collecting-stamps-activity called "Stamp Rally" which I have also introduced on this website on October 19th.

The lower photos are showing the leaflet of the activity. "Stamp Rally" activity is usually common for train lines, but for this one stamps are placed at the historical sites relating "The Hojos", a Samurai lord family in the middle ages. The stamp sites are spreading in 5 prefectures such as Tokyo, Kanagawa prefecture, Saitama prefecture, Shizuoka prefecture, and Okayama prefecture. When people completed to collect 5 different stamps on the leaflet, they can get a pin badge that has an original design of the Hojo family.

Well, you might not be a pin badge collector, but in addition to it you may get a local specialty from one of the 5 prefectures by lottery. The local specialties are mostly traditional craft-works, for example, wooden chopsticks with decorative carving, a pair of pottery tea cups, and a tote bag made of Japanese denim. 

It would be fun to travel around to visit historical sites of Samurai era and learn Japanese history, then you may get a nice traditional item! The lower right end photo shows the stamp of Hachioji Castle which was a castle of Ujiteru Hojo. 

Ujiteru Hojo was the third son of Hojo head-family in the late 15th century, and Ujiteru was entrusted with the defence of the east side of their territory, which is now Hachioji City. The stamp in the photo is placed at the Guidance Center of Hachioji Castle Ruins (location: 3-2664-2, Moto-hachioji-machi, Hachioji City, Tokyo), and it is available while the Center is open. The activity term is between October 1st 2016 and February 28th 2017. 

Hope you can complete it during the period!


Other locations for this Stamp Rally "Go! The Hojos"
Odawara Castle: 6-1, Jonai, Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Tsukuiko Lake Shiroyama Koen Park Center:162, Negoya, Midori-ku, Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Tamanawa Furusato House:128, Ueki, Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Hakone Town Local Museum:266, Yumoto, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture
Hachigata Castle History Center: 2496-2, Oaza Hachigata, Yorii-machi, Osato-gun, Saitama prefecture
Former Yamazaki Family's Villa:2-7-8, Matsue-machi, Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture
Izu-no-kuni City Nirayama Local Museum: 2-4, Nirayama, Izu-no-kuni City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Yamanaka Castle Guide Center and Shop:410-4, Yamanaka-shinden, Mishima City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Shuzenji Temple:964, Shuzenji Temple, Izu City, Shizuoka Prefecture
OH!MOS:14-10, Uchiura-omosu, Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Ihara City Cultural Asset Center, Kodai Mahoroba House:333-1, Ihara-machi, Ihara City, Okayama Prefecture

Annual Local Festival In Hachioji City, Hojo Ujiteru Festival Took Place Last Weekend

As I introduced on October 15th, Annual Hojo Ujiteru Festival took place on October 23rd. I have written about this festival in my previous post last year on October 24th, and Hachioji local people started this festival to commemorate a Samurai lord "Ujiteru Hojo" who ruled the area in the Middle Ages. So this festival is a kind of new local event and it was the fifth festival this year.

Many local people wore Samurai armor which they made by themselves and walked in a parade in Moto-hachioji area and gathered at a local elementary school ground. Some Samurai related performances are showed and those who joined the festival parade enjoyed them in their armor. In the lower photos above, it seems like the school ground was completely covered by an uncommon atmosphere back to the Middle Ages, but on the edge of the ground there are many tents selling food and drinks for just a couple of dollars. The food and drinks were provided by the neighborhood people and they cooked behind these tents, so it also looked like a typical old-fashioned neighborhood event in a local community. 

It may look less elaborate and dynamic than famous major historic festivals. However visitors can enjoy the festival with more relaxed and friendly air and everybody can go really close to the parade and performers. It would be a big strong point of this festival.

In addition, same as the last year, a couple of groups from Kanagawa prefecture and Saitama prefecture joined this festival, because these areas had been ruled by the brothers of Ujiteru Hojo. Hojo Family was a powerful Samurai lord family in the Middle Ages until they were destroyed by another strong Samurai lord Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Apparently the family bond was very strong in Hojo Family, then in these areas related to Hojo family local people started to be united again through their local events recently. Now Hachioji people also join some events in Ujiteru's brothers' area.

What's more, this year Hachioji City Tokyo, Odawara City in Kanagawa prefecture, and Yorii Town in Saitama prefecture officially became sister cities because of the historical relation of Hojo Family. Seems like a mingling between the local people in the areas related Hojo Family is now becoming a bigger stream!

Special One Day Event on Sep 25th in Hachioji City Tokyo!

I'd like to introduce a special one day event. It will take place at Hachioji Castle Ruins on coming September 25th (Sun)! 
You can wear Samurai armor replicas (adult and kids sizes available) and actually walk into the castle ruins. It's a great chance to enjoy the feeling of a Samurai!

Website of the host organization (Hachioji Castle Mitsu Uroko Club) is here (mostly in Japanese)
Would you like to apply now? Click here for sending a mail!

Former Manor House Of A Great Director 'Nagayasu Okubo' In Samurai Era

I kept writing about Japanese Samurai era history recently, and let's continue it since there are more historic sites relating to Samurai era in West Tokyo area. The photos above are showing a former manor house in Samurai era, specifically Tokugawa Shogunate era. Tokugawa Shogunate era started in 1603 and continued until Japan got the first modern government in 1868. The Shogunate government was established by a Samurai Lord "Ieyasu Tokugawa" and the Tokugawa family ruled Japan as Shogun for 265 years. 

The refugee Samurai princess Matsu who I introduced in my previous posts died in 1616 after the Tokugawa Shogunate era started. Although she was a refugee princess and most of her family were killed, she was not alone in her later days. Actually former Takeda troopers were around her during her last years. How it was possible?

Even though Lord Takeda family and their troopers were defeated and Takeda family lost their land, some Samurai vassals and Samurai soldiers survived the disaster. Moreover some of the competent men among them were re-hired by other lords. 

One of the re-hired survivor from Takeda troopers is Nagayasu Okubo. He must have been a very capable person because after he started working for Lord Ieyasu Tokugawa who became the first Shogun later, he rose by leaps and bound and at the and he became one of the senior councilor of Tokugawa Shogunate government. As a refugee Samurai survivor who lost his lord it was really a rare case.

After Tokugawa shogunate government was established, Nagayasu Okubo took up a administrative director position of the greater Tokyo area which was under Shogun's direct control. Thus Nagayasu Okubo was called "Great Chief Secretary of Shogun" later. By the way, in those days local areas were entrusted to local lords who were appointed by Shogun. 

As one of his famous works, Nagayasu Okubo proposed to form a security squid for Shogun's direct control area. It was named "Thousand Troopers" and stationed in Hachioji. He hired many of survived Takeda troopers for the squid, then they were gathered in Hachioji where Princess Matsu was living. It is said that she became the source of emotional support for the survived Takeda troopers and because of her they were united to work as the "Thousand Troopers".

Today, only a small shrine and an old well were remaining on the ground of the former manor house of  Nagayasu Okubo in Hachioji City. However there are lots of buried historical episodes there.

A Real Samurai Castle Remaining from Late 16th Century in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture

Matsumoto Castle in Matsumoto city, Nagano prefecture is one of the rare old castles which still has the original building constructed between late 16th century and early 17th century. Today it is designated as a national treasure in Japan.

The black building in the photos above is the main castle tower of Japanese style castles called "Tenshukaku". The word literally means "Castle Tower Protecting the Sky". This "Tenshukaku" looks all black since the walls are painted by Japanese lacquer. Nowadays some local people affectionately call this castle "Crow Castle" because of the color.

However the castle wasn't always maintained well in the history. After the shogunate government collapsed and Samurai era ended, Japan established the first modern government, and the "Tenshukaku" was put up for an auction and about to be torn down. However, some influential locals acquired the "Tenshukaku" and established an organization to preserve the building.

So, because of the local people's efforts we can enjoy seeing/visiting this beautiful castle now.

A Samurai Parade, "Hojo Ujiteru Festival" in Hachioji

On October 18th, the Hojo Ujiteru Festival was held in Hachioji City, Tokyo. It featured a Samurai parade and demonstrations of Japanese Samurai sword and Samurai conch horns, which were used as a cue for Samurai war in the Middle Ages.

Hojo Ujiteru is one of the historical Samurai lords of the late 15th century. He was the third son of Hojo head-family in Sagami-area, which is now Kanagawa Prefecture, and Ujiteru was entrusted with the defence of the east side of their territory, which is now Hachioji City.

His oldest brother suffered an early death and the second oldest brother took over the family's main castle, Odawara Castle. His two younger brothers protected the north and the south part of their territory. Apparently the family was united strongly against their enemies until his castle, Hachioji Castle, was conquered in 1590 and the whole Hojo family was overthrown with the fall of their main castle, Odawara Castle, in the same year.

Thus for this festival, a group of people from each area that his brothers protected joined the parade to unite with Hachioji people. There were people from Saitama Prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Shizuoka Prefecture. It was nice to see that the strength of family bond in the Middle Ages helped to connect people from different prefectures hundreds of years later.