Town festivals:
Left: They just started at Ancient Lotus Park.
(1) Tekken Marathon (Rikuo-Cup)：Early April
Tekken means Gold-inlaid Iron Sword (National Treasure). 4600 people run through on Ancient trail with romance. They challenge four courses (Half marathon, 10km, 5km, 1km).
Tekken Marathon starts and finish at Ancient Lotus Park. Runners
are welcomed by local people, their family and Kobushimagnolia
by the road.
Left: Maruhakayama Kofun and Ishida Dike
They run on ruin of Ishida Dike where Ishida Mitsunari embanked this area to attack the Oshi Castle with flood in 1590.This historical road was connected to Maruhakayama Kofun where Mitsunari had a headquarter at the top. Each winners of four courses will get Rikuo(King of land) champion cup of which name was from TV drama “Rikuo”.
Left: The main maternity house and field
(2) The Sakitama Fire Festival： May 4th
They celebrated the 33rd Sakitama Fire Festival at
Sakitama Ancient Burial Mounds Park in Gyoda on May
4th in 2018.
Left: The great king and his wife, Konohanasakuya-hime
It is told that the origin of traditional Sakitama Fire Festival came from and based on an anecdote of the great god and his wife, which is a kind of tragedy. It is one of the stories compiled in the book of Kojiki (Japan’s oldest historical and legendary stories) and it has been enshrined in importance by Sakitama shrine. Current Saitama prefecture was named after this venerable region of Sakitama, which handed down over the generations up to the present days. Especially the magnificent ancient parades are the symbolic scene in the story of the god that is taken place as a divine service of the shrine. It has also become a main event of the festival that is operated and performed by the local people of Gyoda city, who show up amazingly in the costume of the era.
Left: Attractive women enjoy Hawaiian Dances at stage.
(3) The Lotus Festival
Lotus season starts in late June and continue until early August. This Lotus Festival is scheduled in a day that lotuses have the most beautiful flowers in this park in early July. It is the 21st Festival in 2018. We enjoy the performance of traditional Japanese drams, Japanese zithers, singings and Hawaiian dances etc. At an event site, children and their families can have joyful time by catching killifishes, catching water balloons and other old play-games.
Left: Narita Nagachuka, acting Castle Lord, appears at the
festival.
Gyoda’s sister cities, Shirakawa City in Fukusima Prefecture and Kuwana City in Mie Prefecture present Products Sales Sites. Volunteers deliver the Lotus Teas, Lotus and Rice Cakes, Lotus and Rice Gruel with free charge. People also can purchase “A Drop of Ancient Lotus” (Water). Visitors can have mutual discount admission free by a ticket of three museums, Ancient Lotus Museum, Sakitama Burial Mound Museum and Gyoda City Museum in this Lotus season.
(4) Gyoda Floating Castle Festival
This is two days citizen festival that people in Gyoda celebrate and support it. Gyoda supports steps of Japanese Kimono Culture as Tabi manufacturing and Tabi Storehouse City. And this project was approved to Japan Heritage Gyoda as the first city in Saitama Prefecture on April in 2017. Television drama “Rikuo” was introduced to all over the country in last year and the drama was a story of small Tabi manufacturing company in Gyoda, written by Ikeido Jun.
The first day is mainly for children. They have fun with scooping goldfish, shaved ice with syrup poured on, cotton candy, fried-needle and free market and drum performances. The second day is main festival that people participate to “Danbe” local dance, pulling portable shrine and festival float. Pupils in elementary and junior high school, people from companies,
Town autonomies and clubs, they compete dancing with their unique costumes to get Dancing Prize, Float Prize and Costume Prize. People enjoy dancing under heated night sky.
(5) Gyoda Commerce and Industry Festival: Oshi Castle Period Festival
This would be held in middle November around the site of Oshi Castle.
People from Gyoda’s commerce and Industry companies and visitors can have good relation in this festival.
Armed Samurais demonstrate short play on the Oshi Castle site. Also, they showed visitors peformance with Hinawaju-old gun.
A group of Samurai in armour fire at the same time on a bridge in front of Oshi Caste. This kind of rifles are called Hinawaju or matchlock guns, which were brought to Japan in the middle of the 16th century. These people are from Kawagoe city, Saitama.
They are called “Shishino Kai” or Lion group, who preserve the traditional rifles Samurai used . The Lord of Oshi Castle was promoted as Lord of Kawagoe in early the 17th century.