Six floats, hauled by hand up the steep Dango-zaka slope
Related guide: Chichibu Night Festival 2026
Dango-zaka is the steep slope just before the otabisho in Chichibu Park, and the six floats have to be hauled up it on the night of 3 December to get in. The sacred procession leaves Chichibu Shrine with two kasaboko and four yatai behind it, all built with traditional joinery and no nails.
The festival is tied to a legend. Myoken, a deity of Chichibu Shrine regarded as female, and the male god of Mt Buko are lovers who meet on this one night, at the Kamenoko-ishi turtle stone in Chichibu Park next to the city hall. Mt Buko is visible from the shrine and has long been treated as sacred.
Along the route stands the small Suwa Shrine, whose deity the legend makes the wife of the Mt Buko god, and the Honmachi float's musicians stop playing as they pass it. Records of the festival go back to the Kanbun era (1661–72), when a Chichibu silk market was held alongside it, which is why it is also called the silkworm festival.
The main-night fireworks go up from Hitsujiyama Park; in 2025 about 4,100 were launched. As they burst overhead, the six floats are hauled up Dango-zaka in turn.
The full guide to this festival
Chichibu Night Festival 2026: 2–3 December, floats hauled up Dango-zaka under fireworks on the 3rd
Full guide: dates, getting there and what you can book →
