For the first time in three years; Tokorozawa New Years Firefighter Ceremony, called a Dezome Shiki in Japanese.
New Year Firefighter Event
A dezome shiki is a type of firefighter festival held in the New Year, often on the second weekend of January. In recent years “New Year Firefighter Ceremony” seems to be the most commonly used English for Dezome Shiki, but it does little to convey what this amazing New Year event has to offer. More than just a ceremony, there are several demonstrations carried out at the event. The most popular, and to me personally most fascinating, are the ladder acrobatics. Unfortunately, the Tokorozawa ceremony does not have this particular element. If you are new to this type of New Year Firefighter event, aka dezome shiki, please check out this post which shows what its all about and what to expect. This is an event post specifically for the Tokorozawa New Year Fire Fighter Ceremony.
Tokorozawa New Year Firefighter Ceremony
Last year, 2022, there were only a handful of places that had their annual dezome shiki. Tokorozawa City was among the many that decided not to go ahead with the event. Moreover, in 2021 there were no dezome shiki open to the public in Saitama Prefecture. There were a couple of online events. So in Tokorozawa City this is the first time in three years that the New Year Firefighter Ceremony will be on.
The Tokorozawa City first new year firefighting event of the year has several elements, but unfortunately it does not have the ladder acrobats. If you want to see ladder acrobats in this area of Saitama Prefecture, it is possible to see them at the Iruma Dezome Shiki or Kawagoe Dezome Shiki. For any fire engine lovers; there is a parade of the brigade’s vehicles. There is a taiko drum performance and local kindergarten music performance too. It takes place in the beautiful, family friendly and engaging Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park.
Schedule
10 am Opening ceremony
10.30 am Fire fighters march
10.45 am Rescue Demonstration
10.55 Rescue Vehicle parade
11.15 Special performance
11.25 Firefighting demonstration
11.45 Water Jet demonstration
There will be PR booths at the festival.
Other New Year Firefighter Ceremonies in 2023 in the same district
- Hanno – Saturday January 7th from 9 am.
- Sayama – Saturday January 7th from 10 am.
- Iruma – Sunday January 8th from 10 am. Information in English.
- Hidaka – Sunday January 8th from 9 am.
Even more places for New Year Firefighter Ceremonies:
Information
Event: Tokorozawa City Fire Fighters Dezome Shiki 所沢市消防出初式
Date: Saturday January 7th 2023
Time: 10 am to noon
Venue: Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park, 1 Chome-13 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359-0042. View on Google Maps.
There is also an aviation museum in the grounds of the memorial park.
Access
Parking is likely to be restricted during the dezome shiki as the fire engines use part of the car park.
For even more dezome shiki events in Saitama Prefecture (and more information on dezome shiki) please see the dezome round up article (linked).
For more new Years and seasonal events in Saitama Prefecture please see the New Year posts.
Official event web page. The featured image at the top of the post is from the official web page.
Events are tentative by nature. Please do check with the official website for any last minute changes, updates or cancellations. The information was up to date and accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time of publishing.
we should have events like this here in Australia. Firefighters really do incredibly dangerous and brave work
I agree – for Ireland too and the world over. They should be acknowledged and celebrated more imho.