Kawagoe Festival (Kawagoe Matsuri) — photo by MitsunoriEgawa via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Kawagoe Festival (Kawagoe Matsuri) Finished

川越まつり — Kawagoe, Saitama (Kanto)

Last updated: Tue, October 13, 2026

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The Kawagoe Festival fills the old warehouse town of Kawagoe, about 30 minutes from central Tokyo, with towering two-tier festival floats topped by doll figures. The floats are pulled through the streets with musicians playing on board, and when two meet they turn to face each other for a musical face-off (hikkawase) — the festival's highlight, especially after dark. In 2026 it runs October 17–18.

Background

The festival grew out of the annual festival of Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. Its procession began in 1648, when the lord of Kawagoe Castle donated a portable shrine, lion heads and drums to the shrine. The floats are an Edo-style design developed in Kawagoe, and the float event is one of the UNESCO-listed Yama, Hoko, Yatai float festivals.

In pictures

Getting there

Kawagoe is about 26 min from Ikebukuro to Kawagoe Station on the Tobu Tojo Line (Kawagoe Limited Express), about 44 min from Seibu-Shinjuku to Hon-Kawagoe Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line Limited Express (fastest trains), and about 60 min from Shinjuku to Kawagoe Station on the JR Saikyo Line Rapid. Hon-Kawagoe and Kawagoeshi stations are the closest to the float streets; from Kawagoe Station it is a longer walk along Crea Mall. During the festival the central streets are closed to cars from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM on both days, so come by train.

Tips

• Saturday, Oct 17, 2026: the Jinko-sai shrine procession leaves Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine at 1:00 PM and returns around 2:30 PM. In the evening (around 6:00–7:00 PM) is the Yoiyama, when the floats' lanterns are lit and the hayashi musicians play.
• Sunday, Oct 18, 2026: floats parade in front of Kawagoe City Hall from around 1:30 to 4:00 PM. Not every float lines up there — the rest keep moving around town.
• Hikkawase, the musical face-offs, happen on both days at no fixed time, wherever floats meet. The best are at night at intersections, when several floats gather, turn their stages to face each other and the crowd holds up lanterns.
• The old storehouse (Kurazukuri) street and the streets from Hon-Kawagoe Station are the most crowded. The official English pamphlet (free, downloadable from the official site) has a venue map marking quieter streets, rest spots, toilets and information centres.
• Food stalls (Yataimura) are set up at four spots, including the Renkeiji Temple grounds: 10:00 AM–9:30 PM on Saturday and until 9:00 PM on Sunday.
• The Kawagoe Festival Museum is open 9:30 AM–7:30 PM on festival days (last entry 7:00 PM) and displays real floats all year round, if you can't make the dates.
• Drones are prohibited, and walking while smoking is banned; on crowded streets keep to the left and keep moving.
• The festival is held every year on the third Sunday of October and the Saturday before it.

Maintained by Tetsu Yamamoto · Last verified against the official source: Tue, October 13, 2026