Tokyo announces TOKYO Wasshoi Festival, uniting city’s major cultural events

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture have announced a major new cultural festival, “TOKYO Wasshoi,” which will take place from 12-14 September on Gyoko-dori avenue in front of Tokyo Station.

The event will bring together performance groups from three of Tokyo’s most significant traditional festivals for the first time. Newly confirmed participants include the Edo Hashik-kai from the Sanno Matsuri of Hie Shrine and a shrine mikoshi (portable shrine) from the Kanda Matsuri of Kanda Myojin, both known as two of Edo’s Tenka Matsuri, festivals of national importance. They will be joined by the Asakusa Senwa-chokai and Asakusa Machi-ichichokai groups from the Sanja Matsuri of Asakusa Shrine, a celebrated feature of the city’s Shitamachi district.

The festival line-up also includes the Japan Mikoshi Association, which works to preserve traditional culture, and the Hinosato Shishimai Preservation Society, which performs a lion dance designated as an intangible folk cultural property of Hinohara Village.

An opening ceremony will be held on the first day, 12 September, on a specially constructed stage. The event’s ambassador, rakugo storyteller Taihei Hayashiya, will be in attendance. The ceremony will feature performances by the Edo Firemanship Preservation Association, who will demonstrate traditional skills including kiyari (work chants), matoi-buri (standard-bearing), and death-defying hashigo-nori (ladder-top acrobatics).

“TOKYO Wasshoi” is part of the “TOKYO FORWARD 2025 Cultural Program,” an initiative designed to build on the legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Games. It aims to promote the city’s cultural appeal and generate excitement for the World Athletics Championships and the Deaflympics, both of which will be held in Tokyo in 2025.

Organisers stated the event aims to create a space where tourists, residents, and performers can enjoy the festivities together, transcending barriers of language and disability. The venue will feature Edo culture experience booths and a universal access space to ensure an inclusive environment. It will run from 15:00 to 19:30 each day.