Chichibu Night Festival

The Chichibu Night Festival is the winter festival of Chichibu Shrine and is counted, with Kyoto's Gion and Takayama's festivals, among the three great float festivals of Japan. Its floats, two kasaboko and four yatai, are elaborate carved and gilded structures, some of them opening into kabuki stages, and they are pulled through the town to the accompaniment of drums and flutes and lit at night with hundreds of lanterns.

The 2nd is the Yoimiya, the eve, with the floats displayed and a smaller fireworks show. The 3rd is the main night and the reason to come. After 19:00 the six floats are dragged one by one up the steep Dangozaka slope to the Otabisho, the crews straining on the ropes and the crowd chanting them on, while overhead a fireworks display of about two and a half hours, from 19:30 to 21:55, is launched from Hitsujiyama Park. It is one of very few places in Japan to see winter fireworks on this scale, and the combination of fire, lanterns and cold air is unforgettable.

Chichibu is reached from Ikebukuro by the Seibu Red Arrow limited express, and the town centre is a short walk from the station. Roads are closed across the city for the festival, so take the train and expect the return to be crowded and slow. Dress for a night well below freezing, with layers you can stand in for hours, and arrive in the afternoon to find a place near the slope. The festival is recognised by UNESCO among Japan's float festivals.