【祭り】秩父夜祭（2024.12.3）

初の秩父夜祭。「日本三大曳山祭」の一つという事で期待値高めで行きましたが余裕で超えてきました。ライトアップされた笠鉾・屋台と花火が同時に見れるだけで一見の価値あるし、花火尺玉の音が異様にデカくてちょっとビビった
#秩父夜祭 #秩父
#日本の祭り #祭り
#chichibu #japanesefestival #matsuri
※秩父夜祭とは※
秩父夜祭は、京都祇園祭、飛騨高山祭とともに日本三大曳山祭のひとつとして知られ、300年以上の歴史を持つ秩父を代表するお祭りです。
「秩父夜祭」（ちちぶよまつり）として知られる秩父神社の例大祭は、長き歴史を持つ神社神事に豪華絢爛な笠鉾・屋台の曳き廻しや、豪壮な秩父屋台囃子、夜空を彩る花火、屋台芝居に曳き踊りなどが加わり、今も昔も、多くの人々を魅了し続けています。
この祭りは江戸時代中期、秩父神社周辺に立った絹織物の市、「絹大市」（きぬのたかまち）の経済的な発展と共に盛大に行われるようになり、付け祭り（神社神事に付随する民間行事。神賑：かみにぎわいともいう。）としての屋台行事の始まりは、寛文年間（1661～73年）とも享保年間（1716～36年）とも伝わっています。幕府による華美な屋台行事の禁止令が出された時代や、度重なる戦禍、社会情勢の変化の波を乗り越えながら、日本を代表する祭りとして現代に伝わっています。
冬の夜空を染める花火と､提灯やぼんぼりの灯りが揺れる笠鉾・屋台の極彩色の共演こそが秩父夜祭の醍醐味といえるでしょう。「秩父祭の屋台行事と神楽」は国重要無形民俗文化財に指定され、全国の「山・鉾・屋台行事」33件のうちの1つとしてユネスコ無形文化遺産にも登録されています。
This was my first Chichibu Night Festival.I had high expectations for this festival because it is one of the three major Hikiyama festivals in Japan, but they were exceeded without a hitch.It's worth seeing just to see the illuminated kasaboko and yatai floats and the fireworks at the same time, and the sound of the fireworks was so loud that it scared me a bit!
What is Chichibu Night Festival?
The Chichibu Night Festival is known as one of the three major Hikiyama festivals in Japan, along with the Kyoto Gion Festival and the Hida Takayama Festival, and has a history of over 300 years.
Known as the "Chichibu Night Festival," the Chichibu Shrine's annual festival combines the long-established shrine rituals with the gorgeous procession of kasaboko and yatai floats, the dynamic Chichibu yatai music, fireworks that color the night sky, yatai theatrical performances, and Hiki-odori, and has continued to attract many people to the festival to this day.
In the mid-Edo period (1603-1867), this festival became a major event with the economic development of the Kinu-no-takamachi, a silk fabric market near the Chichibu Shrine, and became a tsukematsuri (a folk event associated with shrine rituals.The beginning of yatai events as a part of shrine rituals (also called kami-nigiwai, or "shrine bustle") was the first of its kind.It is said that the yatai event began as a tsukematsuri (festival of floats) during the Kanbun period (1661-73) or the Kyoho period (1716-36).The festival has survived the period when the shogunate banned the use of decorative floats, the ravages of war, and changes in social conditions, and has remained one of Japan's representative festivals.
The true appeal of the Chichibu Night Festival can be seen in the fireworks display that stains the winter night sky and the colorful interplay of the kasaboko and yatai floats lit by flickering lanterns and bonbori lanterns.The Chichibu Festival's yatai events and Kagura (Shinto music and dance) have been designated as a nationally important intangible folk cultural property, and are one of 33 yama, hoko, and yatai events in Japan registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage site.