Mizukake Festival

Toady, I went to the Mizukake Matsuri or 'sprinkle water' festival, one of the biggest and oldest festivals held in Tokyo. This consists of teams of locals from Monsennakacho carrying mikoshi or 'portable shrines' around a five mile course that starts and ends at the Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine. Each of the fifty-six teams consists of around a hundred members who take it in turns to shoulder the mikoshi on its journey around the neighbourhood. Spectators along the route await the teams of carriers with, hosepipes, buckets and even lorries of water. They then soak the participants as they pass and in return the mikoshi are turned and thrown into the air.


This unique practice is a ritual to cleanse the shrines and their teams, but it also has the benefit of cooling the sweat drenched teams down. Also it's a lot of fun for everybody including the spectators who all have fun splashing in and messing around with the water.


The festival was first held in 1643 to celebrate the birth of the heir to the third Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu. The annual festival, which also boasts a fabulous float procession, soon grew in popularity. In fact, so many crowds came to see it in 1807 that the Eitaibashi bridge collapsed under their weight.