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A Samurai parade for 1000 years
Is there a samurai parade in Tokyo? Yes, there is. It’s at Kameido Katori Shrine. Every year, the pomp and pageantry of Japan’s Heian Period returns for an afternoon. Modern military cosplayers gear up to reenact an event from 1000 years ago. I photographed it for the first time on May 5, 2024.
See this event if you are into the samurai and the Japanese medieval period. It is awesome. Participants are friendly and engage in conversation. Taking photos is no problem. That was my experience. Most of all, it celebrates an important piece of Japanese history.
By the way, the armor and weapons the cosplayers use are realistic. Maybe they wouldn’t have looked out of place on that 940 CE battlefield. Maybe the participants had roles in that Shogun miniseries!
Some women participated in the parade. One said she was a little worried. Even though she wore replica armor, it weighed about fifteen kilograms. That is quite heavy, for males or females. The weather compounded that. It was in the high twenties. Things were warm.
Why is there a samurai parade at Kameido Katori Shrine?
Taira no Masakado led a rebellion against Emperor Suzako in Japan in 940 CE. Fujiwara no Hidesato who crushed him had prayed at Kameido Katori before the battle. After his victory, he offered his bow and arrow to the shrine. The weapon was later named Kachiya.
Kachiya means winning arrow. Since then, the shrine has held the festival to celebrate the event annually on May 5. That means it has been going on for over one thousand years. Isn’t that cool?
What happens at the parade?
Cosplayers dress as samurai and warriors from the Heian Period. Of course, any weapons are replicas and not sharp. They get ready at Kameido Katori Shrine and have a photo session with their photographer.
Once they were ready they boarded a bus to Kamide Shrine. The group then marched back to Kameido Katori Shrine to inform it of their victory which took about two hours. The route was lined with many spectators. There was much support for this event.
The samurai parade wrapped up with a dedication ceremony and Miko (shrine maiden) performance in the shrine. Unfortunately, I was way at the back and the lighting was poor. It was hard to get good photos there.
There might have been a crowd of 1000 at the shrine. It showed that Japanese medieval history still gets a lot of attention. That is a good thing for photographers!
Is the samurai parade easy to photograph?
Yes and no. That’s not a good answer, but it’s true. Why?
During the preparation period, the participants accept photograph requests. That is no problem. You don’t need to rush to take them.
They also have a photo session with the official photographer. Stand behind him or off to one side and it’s easy to get some nice samurai photos. So far, so good.
The parade part was tough. In Japan, people drive on the left. I assumed the parade would walk on that side and planned accordingly. Well, they were on the right! So my initial camera position at Kameido Station failed. A line of police was between me and the samurai. I ran to find better spots.
Support vehicles or traffic controllers often got in the frame. They were too close to the samurai parade. Unnecessary people in my images annoy me (as a photographer).
The other thing is that Kameido Katori Shrine is small. With so many spectators and samurai there, it was crowded. Getting good photos was difficult.
How many participants were there?
About fifty.
How long did the samurai parade take?
It took roughly two hours.
Where is Kameido Katori Shrine?
It’s on the east side of Tokyo, a ten-minute walk from Kameido Station. Click here to see its website.
Conclusion
Put this event on your bucket list. It isn’t simple cosplay. It is history. History shows how countries develop as they do. And that is why the samurai parade is an event worthy of support. It brings a little piece of the Heian period back to show where Japan has come from.
If you are a shrine lover, Kameido Katori is a place to visit. Due to its winning history, it has ties to modern Japanese sports! I’ll have a full article here about it one day. I’ll let you know when that happens.
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2 thoughts on “A Samurai parade for 1000 years”
It is a shame that the age of the participates looks so old, Would not the samurai have been much younger. So is it wrong to say that there is much less interest in the younger generation.
Thanks for the comment Stephen. The people who took part in the parade were mostly promient figures in the area. So many were from the business, charity groups or community groups. They were naturally older due to their positions. While not shown in the photos, many of the spectactors were younger people. The Japanese are quite proud of their medieval history and rightly so.