This Club Trip features:
* Traditional Wooden Boat Rafting!
* Kumagaya Uchiwa Festival
- Huge festival with over 20 giant floating shrines
- 70000 people expected!
* Sightseeing in Japanese Mountain village
* Riverside Picnic in Front of the Gorge.
* Option to Swim / Rock Jumping
* Cheap day out - only 4900yen.

A fun day trip from Tokyo to the quaint mountain village of Nagatoro and then onto the amazing, annual Uchiwa Festival in Kumagaya!

Nagatoro is a small mountain village located in Chichibu. Visitors to Nagatoro can experience a traditional style of rafting, involving boarding a wooden boat controlled by a 'driver' with a long pole. The boat then cruises down the river, giving you ample opportunity to take in the incredible scenery of the area.

2011 Kumagaya Uchiwa Festival

After the traditional rafting we will be having lunch in Nagatoro before exploring the town for an hour or so. While only a small riverside/mountain village, the main street of Nagatoro is a paved, pedestrian only strip packed with great restaurants and interesting shops selling local produce and souvenirs etc. There are many great swimming holes for those who feel like cooling off in the river. The Arakawa river and Nagatoro gorge area is a very picturesque and tranquil place - a great place to while a way a few relaxing hours picnicing by and playing in the river.

Cruising down the Arakawa River

The Kumagaya Uchiwa Festival is a 3 day festival featuring 100s of outdoor food and drink stalls, performances and over 20 beautiful, large floating shrines that are rolled through the street. One of the most energetic (and sometimes noisy!) summer festivals, the shrines are ridden by locals who dance or play music as they are pulled through the streets. The shrines, or floats, are decorated with lanterns and make for a pretty incredible sight! The festival culminates on the Sunday evening with all the shrines meeting in the town square in an amazing display of light, sound and colour.

2011 Kumagaya Uchiwa Festival

The Kumagaya Uchiwa Festival is a definite must see/experience event! Looking forward to a fun day in Nagatoro and at the Festival!

Useful Links:
Previous TSC Nagatoro Trip - Photos