Festival/Event Name: Tendo Sakura Matsuri Human shogi
Prefecture: Yamagata Prefecture
Area Name: Tendo City

The production of shogi pieces is the largest in Japan.

The majority of the production of shogi pieces in Japan is in Tendo city in Yamagata Prefecture.Shogi is a type of board game that is done by two people, and its roots are said to be the play of ancient India.It was not clear when the Japan was delivered, but it was around the eleventh century. The reason why shogi pieces were made in Tendo is told that the samurai began to sideline to help the clan’s finances and to lead the tactics of the art of war.There is a play similar to shogi in every country in the world, but in this way Japan shogi has achieved its own development.

The human shogi which is done under the cherry blossom blooming

Located in the heart of Tendo City, Maizuru Mountain is known as a cherry blossom attraction, and every spring, approximately 2,000 beautiful cherry blossoms are bloom. At the top of the mountain, the spring was held in 1956, “The Tendo cherry Blossom Festival of human shogi”. In the big stage which mimics the shogi board, the samurai of brave armor and the Shigen of a beautiful kimono are playing chess pieces and play a game (shogi) while the cherry blossom petals are scattered. It looks like a samurai picture scroll. As a big event that colors the spring of Tendo, shogi fans are not to mention, and a lot of people gather from Japan and abroad.

The figure lined with pieces is impressive. Battle by professional players

The man shogi starts from the place where the actor who dressed up as a warring warlords appears.The East Army and the general of the West Army fight each other with swords, but it is hard to win. Then, it becomes that the game is decided in shogi, and “piece” dressed in the costume of warlords and Shigen appeared. The appearance of the pieces on the shogi board is impressive. These warriors are the people who were chosen by the lottery beforehand, and the professional players who wore the costume to actually play a game (shogi). The drum on the tower is sounded by one station, and the players exchanges by the tone like the Sengoku warlords, and the hall is piled up. I can enjoy it enough even if I do not learn shogi in detail because another professional players the appearance of the game (playing shogi) clearly.

Various events are held to liven up the festival.

Tendo Cherry Blossom Festival The human shogi is held for two days on Saturday and Sunday in late April every year. The main festival is human shogi, but before and after, there are also events such as the playing of Shogi Memorial Festival and Taiko by local children, the Mikoshi Handai, the “Tendo Baimen” that can be played with pro-players. On Sundays, the dance is presented in front of the human shogi, and it is made to liven up the hall by holding the bee which treats the shogi piece which is the special product of Tendo in the hand, and dancing gracefully.

On the way back, we saw the weeping cherry tree lit up.

Under the cherry blossoms in full bloom, the warlords wearing a body armor and Shigen in vivid kimono is a piece and moving on the shogi board is worth seeing.After enjoying the human shogi, I moved the place and watched the weeping cherry blossoms. On both coasts of the Kuratsu River, which flows through the city, about 1. The trees of the weeping cherry tree are followed by four ㎞. It is lit up when it dims around, and it is a fantastic atmosphere.During the festival, it becomes a pedestrian paradise, and you can walk slowly while watching the Cherry blossoms. Let’s enjoy the spring of tendo while soaked the afterglow of the human shogi.

Festival/Event name Tendo Sakura Matsuri human shogi
Saturday and Sunday of the end of April
Venue of the summit of Maizuru-shi, Tendo
Phone number 023-653-1680 (Tourism Products Association of Tendo City)
Access human shogi The shuttle bus from all over the city to Maizuru Mountain is operated.
URL http://bussan-tendo.gr.jp/