深川八幡祭り（富岡八幡宮例祭）

Fukagawa Hachiman Festival (Tomioka Hachiman Shrine Annual Festival)

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先日、深川八幡祭り（富岡八幡宮例祭）に行ってきました。2025年は「二ノ宮神輿渡御」が行われる本祭りの年でした。

深川まつりは、東京都江東区にある富岡八幡宮の例大祭で、神田祭、山王祭と並ぶ「江戸三大祭り」の一つです。別名「水かけ祭り」とも呼ばれ、特に3年に一度の「本祭り」では、53基の神輿が連合して練り歩き、沿道の観客や地元消防団が担ぎ手に水を浴びせかけます。

The other day, I went to the Fukagawa Hachiman Festival (annual festival of Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine). 2025 was the year of the main festival, when the “Ninomiya Mikoshi Togyo” procession was held.

The Fukagawa Festival is the annual grand festival of Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine in Koto Ward, Tokyo, and is one of the “Three Great Edo Festivals,” along with the Kanda Festival and the Sanno Festival. Also known as the “Water-Throwing Festival,” the main festival, held once every three years, sees 53 mikoshi portable shrines paraded together, with spectators along the road and local firefighters dousing the carriers with water.

江東区の深川地区周辺では、小さい頃は夏になると町内でお神輿を担ぐので町ごとにとても活気があって、夏はお祭りと盆踊りが定番となっていました。

大人になるにつれだんだんと興味も薄れてしまいましたが、久しぶりにお神輿をみたら涙が出るくらい感動しまいました。懐かしさもありやっぱり下町はいいなーとあらためて思いました。

When I was a child in the Fukagawa district of Koto Ward, each town was very lively in the summer as people would carry mikoshi (portable shrines) around town, and festivals and Bon Odori dances were standard in the summer.

As I grew older, my interest in them gradually faded, but when I saw the mikoshi for the first time in a long time, I was moved to tears. It brought back memories and made me realize once again how wonderful downtown areas are.

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深川地区周辺だと初詣は、必ず富岡八幡宮（江東区富岡）に行きます。

地下鉄の門前仲町駅（通称もんなか）からすぐ近くにあります。

初詣が終わったら門仲の近くのおもちゃ屋に行くのが定番コースでした。

If you live in the Fukagawa area, you should always visit Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine (Tomioka, Koto Ward) for your first visit of the year.

It is located very close to Monzen-Nakacho Station (commonly known as Monnaka) on the subway.

After the first shrine visit of the year, the usual course of action was to go to a toy store near Monnaka.

富岡八幡宮は寛永4年（1627年）、当時永代島と呼ばれていた現在地に御神託により創建されました。周辺の砂州一帯を埋め立て、社地と氏子の居住地を開き、総じて六万五百八坪の社有地を得たのです。世に「深川の八幡様」と親しまれ、今も昔も変わらぬ信仰を集める「江戸最大の八幡様」です。

Tomioka Hachiman Shrine was founded in 1627 (the 4th year of the Kan’ei era) by divine revelation on its current site, then known as Eitaijima. The surrounding sandbar was reclaimed, and the shrine grounds and parishioners’ residential area were opened up, resulting in a total of 60,508 square meters of shrine land. Affectionately known as “Fukagawa Hachiman Shrine,” it is “Edo’s largest Hachiman Shrine,” and continues to attract faith today as it did in the past.

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門仲の近くには、木場があります。

江東区内には縦横に川が多く張り巡されていて、昭和40年代にはそれらの川に材木の「いかだ」がぷかぷか浮いていて、船が行き来してそれらを運んでいる光景をよく見ていました。

木場、新木場の貯木場が近いので深川地区近辺は製材屋さんが町の至る所にあって、自転車で通るたびに木のいい匂いが、ぷーんとしてくるんです。

川に浮かぶいかだに乗って遊ぶ子供も多かったんです。でも海につながる川なので引潮になると堤防に戻れなくなるんです。

Near Monnaka is Kiba.

Koto Ward is crisscrossed by many rivers, and in the 1960s it was common to see lumber rafts floating on these rivers, with boats going back and forth to transport them.

Since the Kiba and Shinkiba lumber yards are nearby, there are sawmills all over town in the Fukagawa area, and every time I pass by on my bike I can smell the wonderful smell of wood.

Many children were playing on rafts floating on the river, but because the river connects to the sea, they couldn’t return to the bank when the tide went out.

江東区は縦横に川が多いのでその橋の数も多いです。ゼロメートル地帯なので橋を渡るたびに橋を上ることになり、自転車や高齢者にはきついんです。

Koto Ward has many rivers running in all directions, so there are also many bridges. Because the area is at zero meters above sea level, you have to climb up the bridge every time you cross it, which is tough for cyclists and the elderly.

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今では、川は水辺の公園として利用されています。

Now the river is used as a waterfront park.

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江東区は都心に近く、東京スカイツリーも常に見えるほど近く、縦横の道路がはっきりしているので方角が大変わかりやすい特徴があります。

ただ、海側は埋め立て地が多いため、小さい頃は地図帳内の江東区の形が改版するたびに変わっていました。

Koto Ward is close to the city center, so close that you can always see Tokyo Skytree, and the clear, crisscrossing roads make it very easy to find your direction.

However, since there is a lot of reclaimed land on the sea side, when I was little the shape of Koto Ward in the atlas would change every time it was revised.