Sawara Shoka-machi Hotel NIPPONIA (佐原商家町ホテル NIPPONIA) in Katori, Chiba Prefecture, is offering a limited-time "Premium Seat Plan" and a "Special Lunch Course" for the autumn festival of the Sawara Grand Festival (佐原の大祭秋祭り), held from Friday, October 9 to Sunday, October 11, 2026. A new daytime session, available on October 9 and 10 only, has now been added to the Premium Seat Plan, and the reservation deadlines for the plans on sale have been extended. Together with the evening session (from 5:30 PM) and the Special Lunch Course at the restaurant LE UN, visitors can choose from three plans to enjoy the festival.
On Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, JR East will also run the special limited express "Ayame (あやめ, Sawara Grand Festival Autumn Festival)," connecting Shinjuku Station and Sawara Station without a transfer. This makes it easy to take a day trip from central Tokyo to enjoy the festival and a meal in a cultural property.
New Premium Seat Plan: Daytime Session
This plan lets guests watch the autumn festival at their ease from the second floor of the GEISHO building (中村屋商店, Nakamuraya Shoten), a Chiba Prefecture-designated Tangible Cultural Property built in 1855 (Ansei 2). Floats sway in the autumn breeze while the festival music of flutes and drums echoes through the streets. From a seat in the center of the festival, guests can take in the colorful townscape and the lively atmosphere without worrying about the crowds.
- The float parade route is not announced until shortly before the festival, so a float may not pass in front of the GEISHO building during the meal. The plan does not guarantee a close-up view of the floats.
- The venue is on the second floor, so guests will need to use stairs.
Plan Details
- Plan name: [Oct 9 and 10 only] [Daytime] Premium Seat Plan to Enjoy the Autumn Grand Festival at a Prefecture-Designated Cultural Property
- Dates: Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10, 2026
- Time: 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM
- Venue: 2F, GEISHO building (Nakamuraya Shoten), a Chiba Prefecture-designated Tangible Cultural Property
- Price: ¥12,000 (tax and service charge included)
- Capacity: Limited to 6 groups / 12 guests (reservations for 2 or more guests; no solo reservations)
- How to reserve: Official website or phone
- Reservation page: https://www.tablecheck.com/shops/nipponia-sawara/reserve?menu_items=6aacdc8bb94f9f9c65c954f1
- Reservation deadline: 3 days before the event date
Menu
Autumn Sawara French Jubako (秋の佐原フレンチ重)
- First tier: Assortment of autumn-flavor hors d'oeuvres
- Second tier:
- Roast Kazusa Wagyu (かずさ和牛) beef with sansho pepper flavor
- Lobster thermidor-style dish
- Seared fresh fish with autumn eggplant baba ganoush
- Warm vegetable dish
- Sweet potato takikomi rice
- Dessert: Kinako and soy milk blancmange with a sauce of 最上白味醂 (white mirin) and kuromitsu (black sugar syrup)
- Drinks (free flow): Sawara's recommended sake, shochu, beer, sparkling wine, wine (white and red), whisky, and assorted soft drinks
Getting There: Special Express "Ayame" From Shinjuku to Sawara
On Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, during the festival, JR East will run the special limited express "Ayame (Sawara Grand Festival Autumn Festival)," connecting Shinjuku Station and Sawara Station without a transfer.
| Train | Operating days | Route and times |
|---|---|---|
| Ayame No. 85 | Oct 10 (Sat) and Oct 11 (Sun) | Shinjuku 9:25 AM departure → Sawara 11:21 AM arrival |
| Ayame No. 88 | Oct 10 (Sat) only | Sawara 6:48 PM departure → Shinjuku 8:40 PM arrival |
| Ayame No. 86 | Oct 11 (Sun) only | Sawara 3:45 PM departure → Shinjuku 5:42 PM arrival |
For details, see JR East's official announcement: https://media.jreast.co.jp/articles/6816
Background of the Plan
Behind the plan is a vision of "weaving Japanese culture." Rather than simply preserving historic buildings, the aim is to put them to use so that visitors can feel the history and culture of the area in those spaces. The Sawara Grand Festival, counted among the three great float festivals of the Kanto region, is a treasured intangible cultural heritage of the area. The plan offers a chance to watch this lively tradition, which has continued since the Edo period, from a seat in a cultural property that has also stood for a long time, and to experience the character of the historic building and the depth of the festival more fully.
The plan was held for the first time last year and was well received by many guests. This year, the menu has been further refined so that guests can enjoy Sawara's fermentation culture and autumn flavors more deeply.
About the Sawara Grand Festival
The Sawara Grand Festival (佐原の大祭) is known as one of the three great float festivals of the Kanto region. It is a traditional event designated as a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property and is also one of the festivals inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list as "Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals in Japan." Continuing since the Edo period, the festival features magnificent floats pulled through the streets while festival music echoes through the town. Held in summer (July) and autumn (October), the autumn festival is the grand festival of Suwa Shrine (諏訪神社), and the town of Sawara takes on an even more colorful atmosphere. The autumn festival in 2026 (Reiwa 8) runs from Friday, October 9 to Sunday, October 11, and typically draws more than 300,000 spectators.
Plans Already on Sale
Premium Seat Plan: Evening Session
On the second floor of the GEISHO building (Nakamuraya Shoten), built in 1855 and designated a Chiba Prefecture Tangible Cultural Property, seats are set up exclusively for this plan. Guests can watch the floats, which stand about 8 meters tall and symbolize the Sawara Grand Festival, parade by up close at eye level, for an immersive experience. Away from the crowds of more than 300,000 visitors over the three days, guests can also watch the festival in an elegant, comfortable space with food and drink.
- The float parade route is not announced until shortly before the festival, so a float may not pass in front of the GEISHO building during the meal. The plan does not guarantee a close-up view of the floats.
- The venue is on the second floor, so guests will need to use stairs.
Plan Details
- Plan name: [Oct 9 to 11 only] [Evening] Premium Seat Plan to Enjoy the Autumn Grand Festival at a Prefecture-Designated Cultural Property
- Dates: Friday, October 9 to Sunday, October 11, 2026
- Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
- Venue: 2F, GEISHO building (Nakamuraya Shoten), a Chiba Prefecture-designated Tangible Cultural Property
- Price: ¥15,000 (tax included, service charge not included)
- Capacity: Limited to 6 groups / 12 guests (reservations for 2 or more guests; no solo reservations)
- How to reserve: Official website or phone
- Reservation page: https://www.tablecheck.com/shops/nipponia-sawara/reserve?menu_items=68a54880d73deca523a3440a
- Reservation deadline: 3 days before the event date
Menu: Autumn Sawara French Jubako (秋の佐原フレンチ重)
- First tier: Assorted hors d'oeuvres using seasonal ingredients
- Second tier:
- Roast Kazusa Wagyu beef with sansho pepper flavor
- Lobster thermidor-style dish
- Seared fresh fish with autumn eggplant baba ganoush
- Warm vegetable dish
- Sweet potato takikomi rice
- Dessert: Kinako and soy milk blancmange with a sauce of 最上白味醂 (white mirin) and kuromitsu (black sugar syrup)
- Drinks (free flow): Sawara's recommended sake, shochu, beer, sparkling wine, wine (white and red), whisky, and assorted soft drinks
Special Lunch Course at the Restaurant LE UN
A limited special lunch course is served at the hotel's restaurant LE UN (ルアン). The course begins with a non-alcoholic mirin tonic toast drink, a modern take on the traditional mirin 最上白味醂, which the long-established Sawara sake brewery Baba Honten Shuzo (馬場本店酒造), in business for more than 300 years, has continued to make by hand since the Edo period. The dishes make generous use of ingredients such as seasonal kuri kabocha squash, Japanese pears from Katori City, and ichibo (aitchbone), a rare cut of the local brand beef Kazusa Wagyu, and bring Sawara's fermented food culture into the menu in many ways.
- Seats do not offer a view of the floats or the festival. The course is for enjoying a fine lunch in a calm space while still sensing the excitement of the festival.
Plan Details
- Plan name: [Oct 9 and 10 only] Autumn Grand Festival Special Lunch Course
- Dates: Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10, 2026
- Time: 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM (last order 2:00 PM)
- Venue: Restaurant LE UN (ルアン)
- Price: ¥7,500 (tax included, service charge not included)
- How to reserve: Official website or phone
- Reservation page: https://www.tablecheck.com/shops/nipponia-sawara/reserve?menu_items=6a83b4005d16f750bb5da243
- Reservation deadline: The day before the event date
Menu
- Toast drink: Baba Honten Shuzo mirin tonic (non-alcoholic)
- Hors d'oeuvre: Roast duck marinated in white miso, with Japanese pear from Katori City and yuzu
- Soup: Roasted kuri kabocha squash potage with a sake lees écume from the brewery
- Fish: Poêlé of fresh fish and lobster, with autumn eggplant purée and jus de crustacés
- Palate cleanser: Granité
- Meat: Roast Kazusa Wagyu ichibo with seasonal vegetables and red wine moromi miso
- Dessert: Crème d'Anjou with a fermented grape sauce
- Bread
- After-meal drink: Coffee or tea
About Sawara Shoka-machi Hotel NIPPONIA
Sawara, in Chiba Prefecture, is easy to reach, about 80 minutes from Tokyo by car and 30 minutes from Narita. The town still has a strong Edo atmosphere and was the first area in the Kanto region to be designated an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. Sawara Shoka-machi Hotel NIPPONIA treats the whole town as a single hotel, with 14 rooms in 8 buildings, including merchant houses more than 100 years old, scattered through the streets. It offers a style of stay that blends into Sawara's history, with nights in historic guest rooms, fermented French cuisine that draws on Sawara's ingredients and food culture, and town walks in cooperation with well-known nearby shops and stores.
- Address: Sawara-i 1708-2, Katori, Chiba (KAGURA building)
- Website: https://www.nipponia-sawara.jp/
