Tendo produces more shogi pieces than anywhere else in Japan, and the Human Shogi festival is the city's annual celebration of this particular identity. The slope of Maizuruyama is divided into squares; people dressed in samurai costume take the roles of the pieces; professional shogi players make the actual moves, and the human pieces respond accordingly. You do not need to know shogi to enjoy this. The visual spectacle of costumed figures moving across a hillside under cherry blossoms, directed by the invisible logic of a board game, is engaging on its own terms. The crowd's reaction to each move reveals when something significant has happened, even without understanding what it was. The festival is a reminder that the best local celebrations emerge naturally from what a place actually does. Tendo makes shogi pieces; Tendo plays shogi on a hillside in April. The connection is direct, the pride is genuine, and the result is a festival that could not exist anywhere else.