A chosa is a drum float embroidered in gold thread, and it takes about seventy people to lift one; Toyohama brings out twenty-three of them.
Overview
The Sanuki Toyohama Chosa Matsuri is the biggest event of the year in the Toyohama district of Kanonji, on Kagawa’s western coast. It is a harvest and good-catch festival, and the floats – called chosa here, taikodai elsewhere – are its whole point.
Western Kagawa is known for particularly ornate floats, densely embroidered with gold and silver thread over dragons, lions and tigers. The tradition is thought to trace back to Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri and arrived in the area roughly 150 years ago.
When and where
The festival runs for three days from the second Friday of October each year, which in 2026 falls on Friday 9 to Sunday 11 October. The finale, when all 23 floats are lifted in competition, is on the third day.
Nearest station: JR Toyohama, on the Yosan line.
Getting there
JR Toyohama is about 30 minutes from Kanonji and around 50 minutes from Takamatsu by limited express, or roughly 40 minutes from Okayama plus a connection. By car it is about 11 minutes from the Onohara interchange on the Takamatsu expressway, but road closures during the festival make the train the easier choice.
What to expect
Each neighbourhood association fields its own float and its own bearing team.
- Twenty-three chosa floats in total, each lifted by about 70 bearers
- A kaki-kurabe lifting competition with all floats together on the final day
- Floats decorated with gold-thread embroidery over dragon, lion and tiger motifs
- Around 200 separate components make up a single chosa, from the tonbo at the top to the hanging quilts
- The nearby Chosa Kaikan museum, open year round, displays floats and festival gear
Tickets and admission
Free to watch from the street. There is no paid seating. Streets in the district are closed to cars during the float routes, and the floats move fast when the bearers get going, so stay behind the marshals’ lines.
Tips for visitors
Go on the final day if you can only pick one – seeing all 23 floats in one place is the difference between a nice local festival and a genuinely startling one. Ichinomiya Park, ten minutes on foot from Toyohama Station, is a good place to catch the sunset over the Seto Inland Sea between events. The Chosa Kaikan is worth an hour beforehand for the explanation of how the floats are built.
Access and map
| Dates | 9-11 October 2026 (finale on 11 October) |
|---|---|
| Venue | Toyohama district, Kanonji, Kagawa |
| Access | JR Toyohama station, then on foot |
| Admission | Free |
| Official site | Kagawa Prefecture Tourism Association |
Source: Kagawa Prefecture Tourism Association
Image: Photo: 尾崎弘幸 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
