The 46th annual Kagurazaka Festival was
done for 4 days, from 26th to 29th July. The
first two days were for street market of Japanese Lantern Cherry “Hoozuki”
,food & drink market. Evening town walking tour guided by the NPO Ikimachi
Club was also done. The latter two days were for Owaodori Street Dancing
Parade.
The Kagurazaka Street was
car-free during the dancing parade for years, and car-free was applied the
first two days for the first time this year. The street market is placed on the
border of sidewalk and traffic lane, and the congestion level on the
sidewalk was far beyond capacity, especially around the Bishamonten Temple
which is the main quad of the festival, and the merchants association has been
requesting to the police to make the street car-free during the period of
market. But it was not accepted because the police considered it difficult to
stop the traffic for four nights in a row. But it was finally realized because
the risk of traffic accident has risen high, and it was not comfortable for
either pedestrians or drivers.
It
was expected that congestion level would be lower, but actually it was about
the same, especially around Bishamonten, because more people came. Traffic lane
was full with pedestrians too, and many people were sitting on the curb and
eating and drinking what they bought at the markets. So it was confirmed that
people like to sit at where possible even though the physical environment is
not so great, when they have food and/or drink. It is a public life, but having
too many people is not quite desirable. Many people avoided this crowd. The
evening tour did not have so many attendants, as it was not easy and
comfortable to reach and find to the reception. Having too many visitors can be
a problem.
Car-free
for the market evenings was a new challenge and overall was successful to
provide more space for pedestrians. The layout of the market to make more
access ways between the sidewalk and traffic lane should be considered.
Sidewalk at Bishamonten Temple, Kagurazaka Street
Kagurazaka Street, car-free, traffic lane
Many people were sitting along the curb
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