大名行列
毎年9月に開催される八朔祭の主なイベントの一つは、大名行列です。これは、数世紀前、藩主が江戸城を往復する際に都留で見られた、封建時代の行列を再現したものです。
このイベントでは、大名、お姫様、侍、その他様々な家臣や従者に扮した人々の行列が、町を練り歩き、秋元氏(1633～1705)統治の下、城下町だった時代を呼び覚まします。当時、秋元氏は、仁政や地元経済の発展などのため、町人から非常に慕われていました。都留と江戸を往復する際、盛大な行列をし、人々の心を鼓舞しました。しかし、1705年、秋元氏は将軍の命で川越へ転封となり、氏や家臣が住んでいた町の中心地だけでなく、町民の心にも大きな空白を残しました。町民は、大名がもたらしたにぎわいを懐かしく思い、その後まもなく、その行列を模倣し始めました。20世紀に50年程中断されましたが、1989年に再開され、大名行列として、今日まで受け継がれています。
Daimyo Parade
A major event during the Hassaku Festival, held every year on September 1st, is the Daimyo Parade. This is a reenactment of the feudal parades one might have witnessed in Tsuru centuries ago, when the local lord would depart to or return from Edo Castle.
During the event, a procession of people dressed as feudal lords and ladies, warriors, and various other retainers and servants, passes through the city streets. It evokes the days when Tsuru was a castle town under the rule of the Akimoto clan (1633–1705). The Akimotos were well-loved by the townspeople for their benevolent rule and development of the local economy. They would pass through the city on their way to or from Edo in a magnificent display said to rouse the hearts of the people. However, in 1705 the clan was moved to Kawagoe at the command of the shogun. They left behind a great empty space not only in the middle of the town where they and their retainers once lived, but also in the hearts of the townspeople, who missed the festivities associated with their lord. Not long afterward, the townspeople began to imitate those parades themselves. The practice was interrupted for about fifty years during the twentieth century but was revived in 1989 and continues on to this day as the Daimyo Parade.
