The Exciting Tendo Sakura Matsuri Festival and Ningen Shogi
Shogi, or the “General’s Game, a two-player strategy board game, is the most popular native variant of chess in Japan. From the Song Dynasty through the Ming Dynasty in China, there are stories that numerous trade convoys travelled along the southern islands and all around the Indian Ocean. The Chinese traded with the Japanese and other Southern Asian countries. This could have influenced the development of shogi. The oldest documents mentioning the existence of shogi are found in the seven-volume writings of Fujiwara Yukinari (972 – 1027), the Kirinshō.
The Japanese city of Tendo in Yamagata Prefecture is known since the Edo period for the traditional craft of producing shogi pieces. Tendo Sakura Matsuri Festival is an event, usually in April of each year, that celebrates the arrival of spring. The festival is a fun-filled event that hosts a variety of attractions such as traditional dances, a parade with people joining in carrying portable shrines—one of the most anticipated events, the Ningen Shogi.
Watch the Ningen Shogi in action in this YouTube video by Shogi Harbour:
The Ningen Shogi or human shogi is a popular spring event where armored or kimono-clad people act as shogi pieces. The game is much like chess. Players (called Kishi) battle by moving pieces of different roles in order to capture the king. The Ningen Shogi is set in a time 400 years ago during the warring states period. The human shogi has people dressed up as warriors in full armor who represent the game pieces. The game of professional Kishi is recreated on a 16m-long (52ft), 14m-wide (46ft) gigantic board. With the crown cheering them on, the game brings a lively atmosphere and is a sight to behold.