For three days each October, Chiba's historic castle town of Sakura City celebrates the Sakura Autumn Festival. The city is filled with floats, sacred sake stands, and mikoshi (portable shrines) parading through the streets, creating a cherished seasonal celebration.
The festival is a joint event of four local shrines (Makata, Atago, Shinmei, and Hachiman), and is held annually on the second Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the month. Rooted in the Edo period, it originally began as the Makata Shrine festival and flourished with the support of the Sakura domain. That legacy can still be seen today in the Edo-style floats, detailed festival dolls, and the sounds of Sakura bayashi, a musical tradition that traces its roots to the Kasai style of festival music from Edo.
Among the highlights is the Makata Shrine mikoshi, one of the largest in Chiba Prefecture, which is carried proudly through the town. Restored floats and dolls from the Edo period add to the atmosphere, giving festival attendees a sense of the event's history. Beyond its spectacle, the festival remains a community tradition, bringing people together in prayers for good harvests, peace, and stability.
Among all the tradition, there is a slice of modernity -- visitors can use a special live map, accessible by QR code, to track floats and mikoshi as they move through the town.
