sanja_festival

Procession to honor the three gods

Address:

Asakusa Shrine - Naka-ku
111-0032 - Asakusa / Mukojima
Tokyo

Nearest Bus or Train:

Asakusa Station

Open Hours:

Not available

Held annually on the third weekend of May, the Sanja (Three Gods) festival honors three humble fishermen who pulled out the statue of Kannon from the sea in the seventh century and enshrined in nearby Sensoji Temple. The three fishermen were later given divine status and became the resident deities of Asakusa Shrine. The Sanja festival is the biggest of its kind in Tokyo and draws huge crowds of frenzied devotees. Borne on the shoulders of chanting and heaving worshippers, the portable shrines of the three gods are carried around Asakusa's old shitamachi (downtown) area in a mammoth procession. Admission is free. The festival is celebrated all day.

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