[Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture] Golden Week - Yoshitaka's Koinobori to be held at Iruma River from May 3rd to 6th, 2026!

The situation from May 3rd to 6th, 2026 (photos are from the past).

On Friday, May 1st, 2026, we began preparations for Yoshitaka's Koinobori after the rain stopped. This is along the Iruma River, not far from Shimizu Hachiman Shrine, where Minamoto no Yoshitaka is enshrined. Stakes were driven in and fixed to raise the carp streamers.

The actual raising of the carp streamers will take place on the morning of May 3rd (Sunday/Holiday). The carp streamers here are placed at a low position, so children can reach them with their hands. Even small children can feel the carp streamers swimming in the blue sky up close.

Yoshitaka's Koinobori

Scenes from Yoshitaka's Koinobori held from May 3rd to 6th, 2026 (photos are from the past)

Date and Time

May 3rd (Sunday/Holiday) to May 6th (Wednesday/Substitute Holiday), 2026, 9:00 to 16:00 (May 3rd (Sunday/Holiday) 11:00 to around 11:30)

Location

Irumagawa Nikoniko Terrace (Riverside Central Park) - 15 minutes walk from Seibu Shinjuku Line 'Sayama City Station' West Exit (or 3 minutes walk from Shichiku Jichikaikan bus stop on Seibu Bus Line 1 from Sayama City Station, or 3 minutes walk from Shin-Fujimibashi bus stop on Seibu Bus Line 2).

Admission

Free

Organizer

Yoshitaka's Koinobori Association

Endorsed by

Children and Families Agency, Saitama Prefecture, Sayama City, Sayama City Board of Education, Iruma City Board of Education, Tokorozawa Board of Education

*We are requesting endorsement from the Children and Families Agency, Saitama Prefecture, Iruma City Board of Education, and Tokorozawa Board of Education to expand this project broadly as a project dealing with children's human rights.

[Reference] May Reiwa 7 (2025): Koinobori display (Number of visitors: approximately 35,000 people)

What is the connection between Yoshitaka and Sayama City? (Historical Background)

Minamoto no Yoshitaka (son of Minamoto no Yoritomo and Hojo Masako, husband of Ohime, and eldest son of Kiso Yoshinaka), who was also featured in the NHK Taiga drama 'The 13 Lords of the Shogun', is said to have been assassinated at the young age of 11 (12 in counting age) by Yoritomo's pursuers in the late Heian period, around the Iruma River flowing through Sayama City. In Sayama City, there is Shimizu Hachiman Shrine, which is said to enshrine Yoshitaka-ko's torso, and the Kagekakushi Jizo enshrined in Jizo-do, where he is believed to have hidden during his escape. There is a history of him being carefully enshrined in Sayama City immediately after his death. Even today, the management of Shimizu Hachiman and Jizo-sama is passed down through generations by local residents.

On the other hand, in Sayama City, which developed as a commuter town during the period of rapid economic growth and saw its population increase from 30,000 to 150,000, the tragic tale of Yoshitaka-ko and Ohime has become a subtly remaining legend among a few people today.

The story of Yoshitaka-ko continues after his death: Ohime, his fiancée, who heard about Minamoto no Yoritomo's assassination plot against Yoshitaka-ko and helped him escape by disguising him as a woman, mourned Yoshitaka's death and never married afterward, dying at the young age of 20, steadfastly thinking of Yoshitaka-ko.

Distributed by

Sayama City https://www.city.sayama.saitama.jp/
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