On Saturday, July 25 and Sunday, July 26, 2026, the Kamimizo Summer Festival will be held on a grand scale around JR Sagami Line's Kamimizo Station, along Terute-dori and Matsuri-dori streets.
As one of Sagamihara Chuo Ward's three major summer tourism events, it draws large crowds every year. This year, twelve mikoshi from the district will once again be paraded alongside eight festival floats, filling the streets with excitement and energy. Numerous food stalls and vendor booths are also planned. It's a summer tradition enjoyed by children and adults alike.
Summer in Sagamihara's Chuo Ward begins in Kamimizo. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Event Overview
Date and Time
Yoimiya (Eve Festival): Saturday, July 25, 2026, 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Hongu (Main Festival): Sunday, July 26, 2026, 2:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Venue and Access
Train: 3-minute walk from JR Sagami Line Kamimizo Station
Bus: From JR Yokohama Line Fuchinobe Station South Exit, Kanachu Bus platform 1, take the Fuchi 53 bus bound for "Tana Bus Terminal" and get off at "Kamimizo" (right at the stop)
From JR Yokohama Line Sagamihara Station South Exit, Kanachu Bus platform 6, take the Sagami 12 or Sagami 14 bus bound for "Kamimizo" and get off at "Kamimizo" (right at the stop)
Program Schedule
Saturday, July 25 (Yoimiya)
Float Parade: 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Sunday, July 26 (Hongu)
Parade: 2:10 PM to 3:30 PM
Mikoshi Procession and Float Parade: 5:15 PM to 8:30 PM
Both days, the area around the venue will be under traffic restrictions, closed to vehicle traffic. Please refer to the venue map for details.
Visitor Notice
No parking is available for visitors. Please use public transportation to attend.
For more details, visit the official website.
Festival Highlights
On Saturday, the Yoimiya (eve festival) features a float parade, with the sounds of taiko drums and flutes creating an enchanting atmosphere across the nighttime streets. Food stalls and vendor booths also line the area, offering the lively atmosphere unique to a summer festival.
On Sunday, the Hongu (main festival) opens with a fife-and-drum corps parade that heightens the festive mood. As evening approaches, twelve mikoshi and eight floats gather one after another in front of the festival headquarters, carried by large groups of bearers, building anticipation among the crowd. The moment when everything begins to move at once — triggered by the Sagamihara mayor's wooden clappers at the 5:00 PM opening ceremony — is not to be missed. The bearers' spirited energy fills the venue with excitement.
Visitors can also view each mikoshi and float up close.
Origins of the Kamimizo Summer Festival
The Tennō Matsuri (Tennō-sama) tradition passed down in Kamimizo is said to have begun in the late Edo period. In the early Meiji era, each local district built its own mikoshi and floats, further enlivening the festival. The enshrined deity is Gozu Tennō of Kyoto's Yasaka Shrine, later identified with Susanoo-no-Mikoto. The festival was traditionally held every year on July 27 and 28.
On the 28th, the main festival day, mikoshi from each district gathered at Kamegaike Hachimangu Shrine, home to a Yasaka Shrine sub-shrine. The deity's spirit was transferred into the mikoshi, which then toured the parish as guardian deities, offering prayers to ward off epidemics, ensure a bountiful harvest, and bring happiness and health to residents.
The routes and customs of each district's parish tour were not recorded in writing, but there were set rules, and bearers carried the mikoshi dressed formally in hakucho robes, eboshi hats, and white tabi socks.
The Tennō Matsuri continued in this form until 1941 (Showa 16), just before the Pacific War. Following Japan's defeat, occupation authorities banned group religious prayers, forcing the festival to be suspended.
Time passed, and in 1946 (Showa 21), a newly formed youth association proposed a new format for the Kamimizo Summer Festival. Mikoshi and floats from each district, having completed their parish tours as part of the Tennō Matsuri, began gathering in front of the police station that once stood in the middle of the Kamimizo shopping street (now the site of the Kamimizo shopping street parking lot).
Today, the Kamimizo Summer Festival is held every year on the Saturday and Sunday of late July. It is renowned as one of the largest summer festivals in the northern part of the prefecture and has been selected as one of the "50 Selected Festivals of Kanagawa."
The festival's highlights include the spirited "mikoshi-momi" (shrine-shaking) during the main festival and the traditional "Yamanote Bayashi" folk performance featuring the floats on both the eve festival and main festival days, drawing overflowing crowds of visitors.
Last Year's Festival
Last year, approximately 350,000 people attended over the two days, filling the surrounding area with excitement. Cheers from the roadside and waves of enthusiasm swept through the crowd during the mikoshi procession and float parade.
