A New Trend in the Traditional Business [Vol.1]

There are 300,000 festivals of all sizes held throughout the year in Japan.  The most common are held in summer and fall, and many are held as annual festivals of local shrines.   Of course, before the pandemic, many foreigners also visited the festivals as an opportunity to experience Japanese culture.

The economic impact of festivals in Japan is said to be 1.4 trillion yen (approx. 7.3 billion dollars).    While almost the festivals were cancelled in 2020, some famous festivals have been held in 2022, such as the Neputa Festival in Aomori and the Tanabata Festival in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, giving the impression that some festivals have been freed from the mood of self-restraint. 

The Hachioji Festival in Hachioji City, western Tokyo, was canceled just nine days before the festival was to be held.   780,000 people visited the festival in 2018, but it was canceled in 2020 and 2021.   The decision to hold the festival in 2022 after three years' brake was made in April, but the number of the infected by the pandemic shoot up in summer.

<The "Cancelled" sign put on the festival poster in the town sign board.>

Just before the day the Hachioji Festival was to open, I learned about a festival goods store called Nakagawa Shoten in the downtown area in front of Hachioji Station and asked about it.

I had an image of Japanese festival supply stores as old and cluttered, but Nakagawa Shoten was a fashionable store with a retro taste, where products were neatly lined up.   Daisuke Nakagawa, the third-generation owner of the store, welcomed me.

Nakagawa Shoten   https://matsuriya.com

[To be continued to Vol.2]