Location: Soga Plum Grove, Odawara City / Odawara Castle Ruins Park
Kanagawa This Month - Latest Kanagawa Tourist Information
Feburary 2007
Odawara Plum Festival : February 3 (Sat) to March 4 (Sun)
Approximately 35,000 white plum trees are planted in the Soga plum grove. The plum grove, from which can be seen Mt. Fuji and the Hakone Mountain Range, offers one of the best views in the Kanto area. The horseback archery (Yabusame) on February 11 (Sun) is a popular event.
For details, contact the Odawara City Tourist Association (Tel: 0465-22-5002).
Soga Plum Grove : Approximately 5–10 minute walk from Soga Station (JR Gotemba Line)
Odawara Castle Ruins Park : 10-minute walk from Odawara Station (JR and Odakyu Lines)
> Odawara Castle
> Soga Bairin Plum Orchard (Plum Blossom Festival)
> Odawara Plum Festival
http://www.odawara-kankou.com/ (Japanese)
Bean Throwing Festival : February 3 (Sat)
Bean throwing will be held at shrines and temples in various locations to announce the coming of Spring.
◎ Souji-ji Temple (Yokohama City) Midnight-Memorial Service. Ceremony from 12:00. Bean throwing starts approx. 30 minutes afterward.
◎ Kawasaki-Daishi Temple (Kawasaki City). Bean throwing from Approx. 11:30– / Approx. 14:00- / Approx. 16:30-
◎ Tsurugaoka-Hachimangu Shrine (Kamakura City). Ceremony from 13:00. Bean throwing starts approx. 30 minutes afterward.
◎ Enoshima-jinja Shrine (Fujisawa City). Shinto ritual from 12:30. Bean throwing starts at approx. 13:00.
◎ Hakone-jinja Shrine (Town of Hakone). Bean throwing on the shrine grounds from 12:30. Bean throwing at Lake Ashinoko from 13:00.
◎ Kawasaki-Daishi Temple (Kawasaki City). Bean throwing from Approx. 11:30– / Approx. 14:00- / Approx. 16:30-
◎ Tsurugaoka-Hachimangu Shrine (Kamakura City). Ceremony from 13:00. Bean throwing starts approx. 30 minutes afterward.
◎ Enoshima-jinja Shrine (Fujisawa City). Shinto ritual from 12:30. Bean throwing starts at approx. 13:00.
◎ Hakone-jinja Shrine (Town of Hakone). Bean throwing on the shrine grounds from 12:30. Bean throwing at Lake Ashinoko from 13:00.
For details, contact (Tel: 045-681-0007).
Hatsuuma Festival : February 5 (Mon)
Location: Shirasasa-Inari Shrine, Hadano City
Hatsuuma is the first “Day of the Horse” in February, and on this day many worshippers pray for bumper crops, a thriving business, household safety, better fortune, and the warding off of evil. At the Hatsuuma Festival at Shirasasa-Inari Shrine, one of the 3 great Inari (a fox deity of the harvest) in the Kanto area, approximately 200 street stalls do an especially thriving business.
For details, contact Shirasasa-Inari Shrine (Tel: 0463-81-0256).
Approximately 10-minute on the special bus from the North Exit of Hadano Station (Odakyu Line) to Shirasasa-Inari Shrine.
> Hatsu Uma (First day of the horse) Festival
Memorial Service for Old Needles : February 8 (Thu)
Location: Okamura-Tenmangu Shrine, Yokohama City / Egara-Tenjinsha Shrine, Kamakura City
Broken and bent needles are stuck into tofu, and a service is held to pray for peace and improvement of dressmaking skill.
For details, contact:
Okamura-Tenmangu Shrine (Tel:045-751-2008)
Egara-Tenjinsha Shrine (Tel:0467-25-1772)
Okamura-Tenmangu Shrine (Tel:045-751-2008)
Egara-Tenjinsha Shrine (Tel:0467-25-1772)
Okamura-Tenmangu Shrine : Approximately 20-minute on the bus from Isogo Station (JR Negishi Line). Get off at Tenjin-mae.
Egara-Tenjinsha Shrine : Approximately 7-minute on the bus from Kamakura Station (JR Yokosuka Line) to Daito-no-miya. Get off at Tenjin-mae.
> Egara-tenjinsha Shrine/Kamakura-Gu Shrine
2007 Spring Node : February 17 (Sat) to February 18 (Sun) /
March 3 (Sat) to March 4 (Sun)
Location: Yokohama Chinatown, Yokohama City
A grand Yokohama Chinatown event celebrating the previous New Year. On New Years’ Eve - February 17 (Sat) – will be a countdown, an offertory lion dance (Yokohama Chinese Institute Campus), and on February 18 (Sun) – the first day of the lunar calendar – will be a lion dance, dragon dance, and on February 20 (Tue) a parade in native costume. On March 3 (Sat) the lion dance will wind around each shop to take congratulatory gifts from the shop fronts as a means of prayer for thriving business. On March 4 (Sun) will be a festival of offering message candles on which are written prayers and dreams, as well as displays of Chinese dancing and the like.
For details, contact the Yokohama Chinatown Development Association (Tel:045-662-1252).
Get off at Motomachi-Chukagai Station (Minato Mirai Line).
> Yokohama Chinatown
> Chinese New Year Festival
Daikokutoue (Asceticism) : February 11 (Holiday)
Location: Choushou-ji Temple, Kamakura City
Having completed 100 days of sever ascetic training, about 20 monks will douse their bodies with chilling water at the water training grounds within the Choushou-ji Temple compound while reciting sutras in prayer for world peace and human happiness.
For details, contact the Choushouji Temple (Tel:0467-25-4300).
Take the bus to Midorigaoka Iriguchi from the Bus Route 3 platform at the East Exit of Kamakura Station (JR Yokosuka Line) or via Nagoe for 5 minutes on the bus to Zushi Station. Get off at Choushou-ji Temple.
> Daikokutoe (Dold Water Ablution)
Tauchimai Shinto Ritual : February 17 (Sat)
Location: Samukawa-jinja Shrine, Town of Samukawa
The opening dance held at Samukawa-jinja Shrine at the beginning of the year to pray for good crops is also called “luck sowing.” At the shrine, the Shinto priest and staff wearing old man masks harvest rice stalks from the dirt of the field using tools such as the sickle and spade, while dancing to ancient Shinto music to pray for an abundant harvest.
For details, contact the Samukawa-jinja Shrine (Tel:0467-75-0004).
One Million Buddhist Prayers : February 17 (Sat) / February 18 (Sun)
Location: Nouan-ji Temple, Town of Yamakita
A Buddhist prayer event in the Town of Yamakita which is said to have been passed down from approx. 600 years ago. Many 9-m balls are attached to a huge pulley, and spun by muscular youths in a manner that is completely unique in the whole country. Also, after Buddhist prayers, there is a lion dance and performance of traditional Shinto music.
February 17 (Sat) 13:00-15:30 (Shinto music). February 18 (Sun) 10:00-15:30.
February 17 (Sat) 13:00-15:30 (Shinto music). February 18 (Sun) 10:00-15:30.
For details, contact the Town of Yamakita Lifelong Study Department (Tel:0465-75-3649).
Approximately 5-minute walk from Higashi-Yamakita Station (JR Gotenba Line)
> Yozuku no Hyakumanben Nenbutsu
Ikutsushima-jinja Shrine Annual “Nori-matsuri” Festival :
February 25 (Sun)
Location: Wakamiya-Hachimangu Shrine Compound, Kawasaki City
A remembrance of the making of dried seaweed which was popular in the sea around Kawasaki until the mid 1960’s.
Participation in the various traditional operations in the preparation of dried seaweed, tasting / the annual Ikutsushima-jinja Shrine (Nori Benten) festival, etc.
Participation in the various traditional operations in the preparation of dried seaweed, tasting / the annual Ikutsushima-jinja Shrine (Nori Benten) festival, etc.
For details, contact the Wakamiya-Hachimangu Shrine (Tel:044-222-3206).
Approximately 3-minute walk from Kawasaki-Daishi Station (Keihin Kyuko Daishi Line)