Sawara Festival

Also known as the Sawara no Taisai Aki Matsuri, the Sawara grand fall festival, the highlight is the parade of 14 beautiful floats marching through the city streets from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. during the festival period. Main venues are Omatsuri Hiroba (the parking lot of Sawara Shinyo Kinko Bank) and Nigiwai Hiroba (near the shopping center).
This is one of the three biggest float festivals of the Kanto area. Each float bears a larger-than-life moving figure from the world of Japanese mythology or history. The floats, made of keyaki (zelkova) wood by famous masters, are paraded through town to the accompaniment of a traditional band playing the famous Sawarabayashi festival music.

Access: Temporary Limited Express "Ayame 81-Go" will be available on Oct. 14 and 15 from JR Tokyo Station at 11:49 a.m. for JR Sawara Station. To return, take the 8:40 p.m. train from JR Sawara Station to JR Tokyo Station. The arrival time is 10 p.m. From Sawara Station, walk 5 minutes to Omatsuri Hiroba and Nigiwai Hiroba.