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Shingenko Festival is one of the biggest festivals in Yamanashi Prefecture. More than 1000 people take part in the Koshu Parade dressed as maembers of the Takeda Shingen army, known as the strongest army of the Warring States period.

But the Shingenko Festival is not only about the samurai parade. Many rituals are carried out to remember the glory of Takeda Shingen, as the Koshu Battalions deployment ceremony.

Let’s learn more about the era when Shingen lived to enjoy the Festival to its fullest!

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What/When is the Shingenko Festival?

The Shingenko Festival, held every year in Kofu City, takes place from the Friday to Sunday before the anniversary of his death (April 12th). Groups of samurai from all the Prefecture gather at Kofu Castle, also called Maizuru Castle, to reenact the deployment ceremony that took place before the Battles of Kawanakajima.

In 2014, the Shigenko Festival was recognized by The Guinness World Records as the Largest Gathering of Samurais, with more than 1000 participants dressed as samurai.

This year, 2019, the Shingenko Festival will take place from April 5th(Friday) to April 7th (Sunday), with the Koshu Parade being held on April 6th (Saturday). Check out the schedule below!

When did the Shingenko Festival start?

In 1947, to increase the Spring sales in the shopping district of Kofu a festival called Sakura Festival started being held at Maizuku Castle Park. But with the inauguration of the Chuo Expressway New Sasago Tunnel in 1955, people started thinking about promoting the image of Takeda Shingen.

The Sakura Festival was, then, changed to Kofu Shingen Festival in 1966, when kendo competitions, traditional songs and dance performances became the main attractions. Later, the Takeda Shingen statue was built and the Takeda Calvary parade became the highlight of the Festival, which had its name changed to Shingenko Festival in 1970.

For many years, the role of Takeda Shingen during the Shingenko Festival was interpreted by officials of Yamanashi Prefectural Government, but since the 1988 NHK drama Takeda Shingen, the festival started gaining more and more popularity and from 1995 this role is enacted by a famous actor. Female roles were also added and the festival became an even bigger event.

What does Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan mean?

In Takeda Shingen battle standard we can see four letters Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan風林火山. It is the abbreviation of a quote from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, and usually translated into English as swift as the wind, quiet as the forest, fierce as fire, an immovable as a mountain.

This was Takeda Shingen’s army symbol during the warring states period and it is said that his enemies would get terrified only by seeing this flag.

To whom the Kofu Castle (Maizuru Castle), where the departure ceremony is held, used to belong?

Kofu Castle was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, after the death of Takeda Shingen. Kofu castle belonged to Asano Nagamasa (Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s brother in law) and was an important castle used to defend the Western part of Edo. Unfortunately, there are no registers mentioning what kind of castle it was.

The ruins of Kofu Castle are considered an important cultural property of Yamanashi Prefecture and was designated as a historic site by the Japanese Government, due to the good conditions of its stone walls.

In fact, Kofu castle did not exist during Takeda Shingen times, being his headquarters located where nowadays stands the Takeda Shrine. You can pay a visit to Takeda Shrine and imagine how it used to look like back in that days!

Are the horses used for the Koshu Parade different from the ones used during the Warring States Period?

Most horses used by mounted infantry at Shingenko Festival are Thoroughbreds. Their height varies from 160cm to 170cm and weight about 450kg.

But it is believed that the horses used by Takeda Shingen were Kiso horses, with about 130cm height and 350kg to 400 kg weight.

How can an army mounted in such small horses be considered powerful?

Actually, despite being smaller than nowadays Thoroughbreds, Kiso horses are famous for being strong and good for carrying heavy luggage even in steep mountain roads. Therefore, they were perfect for a samurai wearing a heavy armor to ride amidst the many mountains of Yamanashi.

Check out more info about the 2019 Shingenko Festival here:

https://www.yamanashi-kankou.jp/shingen/english/about.html

For more fun facts and special tours related to the Festival, visit Yamanashi Tourims Organization Website, in Japanese:

https://www.yamanashi-kankou.jp/special/shingenko_festival01.html