The Kawagoe Enmusubi Wind Chime Festival is a colorful, romantic and unique way to celebrate summer in Japan. Wind chimes create the sound of summer, often hanging above porches or from the roofs of temples. Held in Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture, the festival offers a traditional Japanese atmosphere in a historic town that’s worth the trip.
Enmusubi Wind Chime Festival
Photo by: PIXTA/nikomani Unlucky in love? Visit Hikawa Shrine.
Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine is 1,500 years old and is most popular among those seeking partnership and marriage. Throughout Japan’s hot and humid summers, the festival celebrates the Enmusubi Wind Chime Festival and is adorned with over 2,000 colorful Edo-style wind chimes. The festival began in 2014 and attracts roughly 100,000 visitors. The word enmusubi refers to the concept of marriage.
Festival Highlights
Photo by: PIXTA/ はな Write your wishes on the wind chimes.
The festival’s main draw is the Furin Komachi (Wind Chime Lane), which is decorated with numerous colorful glass bells. Visitors can pen their wishes on wooden strips and affix them to the bells in the 8-meter-long Furin Kairo (corridor of marriage wind chimes).
In addition, the small river (goshinsui) that runs through the shrine grounds is illuminated to mimic the Milky Way. Here, worshippers can purchase a paper doll to float down the river at any time of the day. Sending the doll down the river serves as a purification ritual (hitogata nagashi) to cleanse them of sins.
Whether it’s strolling through the town in traditional summer yukata or hanging a wooden strip with a wish on the wind chimes, the festival offers visitors an opportunity to immerse themselves in the age-old Japanese traditions.
