# Kanda Matsuri

> Held in full every other May. On the Saturday a procession of several thousand people walks about 30 km through Kanda, Nihonbashi, Otemachi and Akihabara, and over the weekend more than 200 neighbourhood mikoshi are carried up to Kanda Myojin.

- Prefecture: Tokyo
- Type: Float procession
- Admission: Free to attend
- Typically held: Mid-May in odd-numbered years, over about a week, with the procession on the Saturday and most of the mikoshi entering the shrine on the Sunday. Even-numbered years have a smaller kagesai: the shrine holds its rites but there is no procession and no mikoshi miyairi.
- Official site: https://kandamatsuri.com/

## Dates

- 2027-05-13 to 2027-05-18
- Status: provisional
- Dates verified on 2026-10-30 from https://www.kandamyoujin.or.jp/event/

Kanda Matsuri is the festival of Kanda Myojin, the shrine on the hill above Akihabara that serves Kanda, Nihonbashi, Akihabara and Otemachi-Marunouchi. In the Edo period its procession was allowed inside Edo Castle and watched by the shogun, and people called it a tenka matsuri, a festival of the realm. From the Enpo era it has alternated with the Sanno Matsuri of Hie Shrine, which is why the full festival comes round only in odd-numbered years. In even years there is a kagesai, a quieter year: the rites are held at the shrine, with no procession and no miyairi. The Shinkosai procession takes a whole Saturday. In 2025 it left the shrine after a rite at about 7:20, stopped at the Masakado mound in Otemachi around 10:00, passed through Nihonbashi, and gathered at the Mitsukoshi main store in the late afternoon, where the costumed tsukematsuri joined it. It came up Chuo-dori through Akihabara a little after 17:00 and was back at the shrine at about 18:20. At its centre are three vehicles carrying the shrine's gods, two phoenix-topped horen for the first and third deities, the third being Taira no Masakado, and a mikoshi for the second. The other half of the festival belongs to the neighbourhoods. More than 200 mikoshi, large and small, are carried up to Kanda Myojin one after another, some on the Saturday evening and most of them through the Sunday.

## Where it happens
- Kanda Myojin
- Akihabara

## FAQ

### When is Kanda Matsuri in 2027?

Kanda Myojin's events page points to 13 to 18 May 2027, with the procession on Saturday 15 May and the neighbourhood mikoshi entering the shrine on Sunday 16 May. Check the festival site in spring, when the full programme is published. In 2026, an even year, there is only the smaller kagesai, with no procession.

### What time does the procession pass?

In 2025 it left Kanda Myojin after a rite at about 7:20, reached the Masakado mound in Otemachi around 10:00, gathered at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi in the late afternoon, passed through Akihabara a little after 17:00 and returned to the shrine at about 18:20. The 2027 timetable has not been published yet.

### How do I get to Kanda Myojin?

About 5 minutes on foot from the Hijiri-bashi exit of JR Ochanomizu Station or from Suehirocho Station on the Ginza Line, and about 7 minutes from the Denki-gai exit of JR Akihabara Station.

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Source: [Kanda Matsuri — Japan Voyage](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/festivals/kanda-matsuri)
Last updated: 2026-10-30