A Samurai Parade, "Houjo Ujiteru Festival" in Hachioji

On October 18th, the Houjo Ujiteru Festival was held in Hachioji City, Tokyo. It featured a Samurai parade and demonstrations of Japanese Samurai sword and Samurai conch horns, which were used as a cue for Samurai war in the Middle Ages.

Houjo Ujiteru is one of the historical Samurai lords of the late 15th century. He was the third son of Houjo head-family in Sagami-area, which is now Kanagawa Prefecture, and Ujiteru was entrusted with the defence of the east side of their territory, which is now Hachioji City.

His oldest brother suffered an early death and the second oldest brother took over the family's main castle, Odawara Castle. His two younger brothers protected the north and the south part of their territory. Apparently the family was united strongly against their enemies until his castle, Hachioji Castle, was conquered in 1590 and the whole Houjo family was overthrown with the fall of their main castle, Odawara Castle, in the same year.

Thus for this festival, a group of people from each area that his brothers protected join the parade to unite with Hachioji people. There were people from Saitama Prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Shizuoka Prefecture. It was nice to see that the strength of family bond in the Middle Ages helped to connect people from different prefectures hundreds of years later.