As some of you know, we mentioned Sanja Matsuri during our Monday Morning Trip to Asakusa—which you can see again here: https://japansauce.net/2016/05/09/asakusa/

Well, this weekend Sanja Matsuri 2016 took place in Tokyo, Japan, and we are happy to say that we were able to see it with our own eyes!

Sanja Matsuri (三社祭, literally “Three Shrine Festival”), is one of the three great Shinto festivals in Tokyo. It is considered one of the wildest and largest. The festival is held in honor of Hinokuma Hamanari, Hinokuma Takenari and Hajino Nakatomo, the three men who established and founded Sensō-ji.

This year was as crowded as ever, and, by the looks of it, there were well over 1.5 Million people over the three days. Everyone was chanting, playing music, eating tons of food, and generally having a fun time all around Asakusa.

Now that Sanja Matsuri is over, this means that summer will arrive in Japan very soon. So make sure to prepare your summer weather, because summers in Japan get hot!

If you want to attend next year’s Sanja Matsuri, it will be held the weekend of May 21, 2017. Maybe we will see you there!

—JapanSauce.Net Team