Bake Neko Festival

I planned this trip and this layover to coincide with the Bake Neko Festival. This festival is inspired by supernatural monster cats from Japanese folklore and novelist Natsume Soseki's classic I Am a Cat which was written while he lived in Kagurazaka. I first heard about this event in a Time Out article, and I have wanted to experience since reading about it. It was also featured in the film Rental Family, which I highly recommend.

After clearing immigration and customs at Narita, I purchased a ticket on the Narita Express and waited about 30 minutes for the 7.40am train. The train I took made four extra stops and that prolonged the journey into Tokyo. I arrived at Shinjuku Station at 9.20am and made my way to Pod Select Hotel in Shinjuku Nichome.

I stayed at this facility three times in the past when it was called City Hotel Lonestar. Jeff and I have many fond memories of the hotel, in particular the free breakfast nook on the ground floor which provided us a prime viewing spot of people doing the walk of shame after having been out all night. A few things have changed since our last stay here in 2018: breakfast is no longer offered, and the hotel is now staffed by people who spoke to one another in Mandarin. When I arrived, it was too early to check in, so I left my bag at the hotel and made my way to the Kagurazaka neighborhood where Bake Neko is held.

I had little information about the festival program other than it started at 10am. When I arrived at Kagurazaka Station, I saw a few people in costume, but there was little evidence to suggest that there would be a festival in the vicinity. I first went to the nearby Akagi Shrine, and then I followed a few costumed people over to the Shirogane Park, where there were a couple of booths and people handing out pamphlets. The pamphlets provided a wealth of information about the timing of the activities, and where they were held along Kagurazaka-Dori which runs between Kagurazaka and Iidabashi Stations. I was very pleased to have this information because it helped me figure out in advance which spots to stake out. This is in stark contrast to other Japanese festivals I have been to, in particular the Sanja Matsuri in 2014 and last year's Narita Gion, where I basically ran to wherever I heard noises. But these festivals were less foreigner inclusive, so I can understand why there was a lack of information for non-Japanese.

Some friends have asked me why I didn't participate in the parades. Well, I didn't want to carry a costume as I travel light and I am very disciplined about that. I also dislike attention. But, the key reason why I chose to be a spectator was because I would only see the people around me if I participated in the parade, whereas as a spectator I would see many more revellers in their costumed best.

Anyway, the first parade was at 12.20pm, so I wandered the streets a little, ducked into a small sushi restaurant for lunch, after which I had a lovely strawberry soft serve, and then I made my way to the route of the first parade. I later discovered that there were two Atlas Obscura sites just off the parade routes. I would have checked those out if I had researched them ahead of time. Apart from Shirogane Park, the main hub of activity was at Zenkokuji Temple along the parade route.

The photos in this entry are of various sights, characters, and animals I saw during the festival. I have created seperate entries for each of the three parades and the cat awa dance in order to circumvent the video limits for each entry.Read more