1. Tendo City: The town of shogi

Tendo City is known as the “town of shogi” because it is the number one producer of shogi pieces in Japan.
Apparently they produce over 90% of the shogi pieces in the country.

The production of shogi pieces in Tendo began during the Edo period.
Tendo was a territory of the Oda clan, but due to a series of poor harvests, the clan’s finances were in dire straits.

As a solution to this problem, the chief retainer of the Oda clan encouraged the playing of shogi, saying that “shogi is related to military strategy and is not something shameful for a samurai to do as a side job,” and thus the production of shogi pieces began.

In Tendo City, you can encounter “Shogi” all over the city.

Please try looking for it too.

2. Tendo Cherry Blossom Festival's Human Shogi

The Tendo Cherry Blossom Festival’s Human Shogi is an event where, as the name suggests, people dressed in armor and kimonos become shogi pieces and play a game of shogi.

The participants will be divided into the Eastern and Western teams and the shogi players will be professional shogi players.
This is an event that is recommended not only for shogi fans, but also for those who love festivals.

It is held every April at the Mt. Maizuru summit square in Tendo City.
Tendo Park on Mt. Maizuru is a famous cherry blossom viewing spot, with approximately 2,000 cherry trees in full bloom from mid- to late April.

Many people visit every year because they can enjoy the cherry blossoms along with Human Shogi.

This year, for the first time in four years, the event was held as usual with no restrictions on entry, and 40,000 people visited on the first day and 50,000 on the second day.

If it rains, don’t worry, the event will be moved to the large hall of the Tendo City Civic Cultural Center, located next to the Tendo City government office.

Now, let’s head over to the venue right away.

3. Access to the venue

This time, we parked our car in the parking lot near the Tendo City government office and took the shuttle bus from the office to the venue in Mt. Maizuru.

If you park near the Tendo City Government Office, be sure to take a look at the Kuratsu River, which flows along the south side of the office.
Shidare-sakura blossoms bloom on both sides of the river for a distance of 1.4 km, making it a famous cherry blossom viewing spot.

At night, the Naruto cherry blossoms are lit up and become the “Shidare-Sakura Evening Venue,” allowing you to enjoy the cherry blossoms at night.
*The illumination period in 2025 is from April 5th (Saturday) to May 6th (Tuesday, holiday)

Across the bridge, there are food stalls set up for a limited time in Central Park.
Previously, they had a stall at the Human Shogi venue, but this year they will be setting up a stall in Central Park.

The official flyer for the 68th Tendo Cherry Blossom Festival (2023) states, “There will be no food or drink exhibits at the Human Shogi venue. Please prepare your own food and drink before coming.”
So I bought some food that caught my eye at the food stalls and then got on the shuttle bus.

Amazingly, the left side of the shuttle bus I was on had a shogi piece painted on it!

And on the back there’s a photo of Human Shogi!
There were many different types of shuttle buses available, so I felt lucky to be on this one.

Each person pays 100 yen as a contribution to the operation and boards this wonderful bus.
Let’s head to Tendo Park (Mt. Maizuru)!

After a 10-minute shuttle bus ride, we arrived at Tendo Park (Mt. Maizuru).
Now, let’s head to the Human Shogi venue.

4. Events packed with highlights

In addition to Human Shogi, the 2023 Tendo Cherry Blossom Festival’s Human Shogi will feature a variety of events over the two days, including an introduction to the Queen of Shogi, Nya Shogi Ondo by Tendo Kindergarten, the Restoration Military Band by Tendo City Tendo Minami Elementary School, a match between Denso FA Yamagata’s “Den-Ote Sakurasho” and the Tendo representative, instructional games, a talk show with professional shogi players, and a Tendo Goju-men game.

This time, we will be bringing you a report on the professional shogi player talk show that took place on the second day and our experience with Human Shogi.

・Professional shogi player talk show (11:15)

The five people appearing in the talk show will be 8th dan Inaba Akira , 8th dan Nakamura Taichi, 8th dan Itodani Tetsuro, 1st dan women’s player Wakita Nanako, and 1st dan women’s player Nohara Miran.

We wait for the talk show to start while eating Yamagata soul food “dondon yaki” that we bought at the food stall village.

Finally, the players have entered the arena!

The moderator will ask questions to each player in turn.

Q: How can I improve?
A. It is said that using good tools helps improve your game, and in the case of shogi, it’s the board and pieces! I would encourage everyone to buy Tendo pieces and practice regularly! (Nakamura 8th Dan )

The answers of the players, some of which involved Tendo City, were met with much applause from the audience, making for a heart-warming talk show filled with laughter.

・Human Shogi ~Entry and Dance~ (12:30)

It has finally begun!
Oda Nobunaga himself appeared from the central door!

Tendo City has ties to the Oda clan as it was home to the Tendo Oda Domain during the Edo period, so the story of Human Shogi appears to revolve around Oda Nobunaga .

The warriors have entered!
If you look closely, you’ll see that each person has a flag with a piece drawn on it.

・Human Shogi ~Game~ (13:00)

The pieces wearing armor and kimonos are all on the board.
I’m excited to see it for the first time.

On the second day’s match, 8th dan Inaba Akira (Western team) will face off against 8th dan Nakamura Taichi (Eastern team).

In fact, this game will be the first to be played between A-class players in the history of Human Shogi.
There are 169 active professional shogi players (as of July 12, 2022), but the limit for A-class players is 10, making them top-class players.

This is a highly anticipated game that shogi fans will not want to miss!

Human Shogi has special rules that are different from regular Shogi.

“First, the game time should be set at 90 minutes.”
“One thing: you must move all the pieces.”
“One, you must not make your next move until the Osho drum has finished beating.”
“First, the commentator should use his speaking skills to liven up the game.”

These special rules are quite a challenge for the players playing the games, but for us spectators, they are interesting rules that make the games even more enjoyable.

Nakamura , 8th dan, will play first.
“First, move 7-6.”
The audience was excited by the light-hearted warrior slang.

Contrary to the excitement in the venue, rain began to fall shortly after the match began, and the samurai played while covering themselves with rain gear.

Unfortunately it rained, but there were many visitors.

I also learned for the first time that the armored warriors are actually chosen through a system of public entries.
The experience of fighting as a professional shogi player may be a once in a lifetime experience.
If you are interested, why not apply?

Halfway through the game, the rain stopped and the sun began to shine.

The battle is finally coming to an end.

The commentator is Itodani Tetsuro, 8th dan , and the interviewers are Nohara Miran, Women’s 1st dan , and Wakita Nanako, Women’s 1st dan .

The match finally came to a conclusion, with the audience bursting into laughter at Itodani Tetsuro ‘s unique commentary.

After 138 moves and about 90 minutes, the Western team, led by 8th Dan Inaba Akira, won!

・Human Shogi ~Victory Cry/Resignation~ (14:30)

After the battle, both armies line up.

The weather has improved and both teams have removed their rain gear, looking very dignified.

The Western Army, having won the battle, lined up at the front and raised a victory cry of “Ei ei oh!”

Both sides left the ring, and the fighting players and Lord Nobunaga returned through the door.
The back view is really cool.

This concludes Human Shogi.

5. An exhibition booth that can be enjoyed by parents and children, friends, or even by yourself

Besides Human Shogi, there was also a “Shogi Enjoyment Corner” and a “Tendo’s Specialty Products Corner for Enjoying Spring.”
This time we will introduce some of them.

・Fun corner

This is a corner where you can actually play shogi with a robot!

The robot recognised the pieces, grabbed them and placed them on the desired part of the board!
I was fascinated by the smooth movements of the robot.

There was also a corner where you could experience having your portrait drawn by a robot.
The capabilities of modern robots are amazing!
Not only children but also adults enjoyed participating.

There is also a free game corner where anyone can play shogi freely.

・Specialty Products Corner

At the Tendo Wine booth, you could purchase Tendo wine and even sample some of the wines.

In fact, the mountains surrounding Tendo City have long hours of sunshine and little rainfall, making them an ideal environment for growing grapes.

Additionally, the Tendo City Tourism and Products Association booth had many shogi-related products on display, including pasta shaped like shogi pieces.

I came across a booth run by very energetic mothers wearing red happi coats (Tendo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Female Division).

If you look closely at everyone’s happi coats, you will see that they say “Children from Heaven.”

In Tendo City, there is a legend that two children descended from heaven to the summit of Mt. Maizuru several hundred years ago, and this anecdote is said to be the origin of the name “Tendo.”

Here, they sell shogi piece-shaped mochi ice cream with the words “Tendo Shogi Lover” written on it!

There were many local specialties that are typical of Tendo.

If you are visiting as a tourist, be sure to check it out!

·others

There were also tapestries and panels from the shogi manga “March Comes in Like a Lion,” which has been adapted into an anime and a live-action film.

I love this manga and have been reading it for a while, and I remember being very excited when the Human Shogi appeared in the story.

I was really happy to be able to attend the long-awaited Human Shogi this time!

If you’re lucky, you might even get to meet Lord Nobunaga near the exhibition booths.

I was happy to take photos! Thank you!

There were also a lot of people taking photos together.

6. Summary

How was it??

In this article, we reported on the Tendo Cherry Blossom Festival’s Human Shogi.
I’m not particularly knowledgeable about shogi, but I still thought it was a very enjoyable event.

Additionally, the observation deck at the summit of Mt. Maizuru offers a panoramic view of Mt. Gassan, the Asahi mountain range, the Mogami river, and more, and is a recommended place for a stroll as not only cherry blossoms but also flowers of every season bloom there.

Observation space

cherry blossoms

Flowers of every season

“Human Shogi” is held every April in Tendo City, the town of shogi.

I highly recommend that everyone go and check it out.