Today's “Hachioji Matsuri Festival” is the union of two shrine festivals whose records date back to the Edo period.

With National Route 16 dividing central Hachioji into east and west, the festival of Taga Shrine in the western area (Upper District) came to be called the “Kami no Matsuri,” and that of Hachiman Yakumo Shrine in the eastern area (Lower District) the “Shimo no Matsuri.” For over 300 years since the Edo period, the two shrines' rituals and portable Shinto shrine (mikoshi) processions have been held, with parishioner neighborhoods parading their floats.

The Hachioji Citizens' Festival, first held in 1961, was renamed the “Hachioji Matsuri Festival” in 1968, after the Upper and Lower districts' float parades joined the 1966 citizens' festival marking the 50th anniversary of the city's incorporation. Float parades and portable Shinto shrine processions have continued ever since, growing into the festival's present content and scale.

Though its form has changed with the times, the history of the floats and the tradition of the portable Shinto shrine processions—the pride of each neighborhood—are still carefully handed down today.

At the “Hachioji Matsuri Festival,” said to be one of the Kanto region's finest float festivals, 19 floats adorned with exquisite carvings make their appearance.

In the late Edo period, against the backdrop of Hachioji's prosperity, the neighborhood associations vied with one another in building ever more magnificent floats.

In the daytime parades you can view the fine carvings up close, while at night the floats, lit by lanterns, create a truly enchanting scene. The night parades and tsuji-awase (crossroad gatherings), with a character all their own, are well worth seeing.

One of the highlights of the “Hachioji Matsuri Festival” is the processions of the main portable Shinto shrines of Taga Shrine and Hachiman Yakumo Shrine.

Taga Shrine's portable Shinto shrine, affectionately known as the “Senkan Mikoshi,” is among the largest in the Tama region, weighing about 3 tons and standing about 2.5 meters tall. Its valiant procession, borne by some 1,600 carriers, is a breathtaking spectacle that symbolizes the festival.

Hachiman Yakumo Shrine's portable Shinto shrine, meanwhile, was rebuilt in 1989; its carriers, clad in matching light-indigo (asagi) happi coats, parade with great spirit along the Koshu Kaido.