Chichibu Night Festival

As one of Japan’s ‘big three’ float festivals (along with Kyoto’s Gion Festival and the Hida Takayama Festival), this festival has been Chichibu’s main event in December for 350 years. The festival’s showcase attractions are six elaborately carved floats resplendent with lanterns, which are pulled along and then hoisted up by men in mawashi loincloths. The climax of the festival is the evening of December 3, when the floats—each weighing up to 20 tonnes—depart from Chichibu Shrine and make their way to Otabisho Square adjacent to Chichibu City Hall. There, you can see the brilliantly illuminated sansha floats accompanied by a fireworks display, made even more stunning against the crisp winter air.