The Nitoyo Coast stretches from the southern part of Oita Prefecture to the northern part of Miyazaki Prefecture, and it's famous for one thing in particular - rock oysters. The oysters in this part of the country are nourished by […]
The Aizen Festival is touted as the first major summer festival in Osaka of the year. Along with the Tenjin Festival and the Sumiyoshi Festival, it’s also known as one of the three big Osaka festivals. Known colloquially as “Aizen-san” […]
The Gion Matsuri (Gion Festival) is a month-long festival that takes place in Kyoto in July each year. The name comes from the neighborhood of Gion, which is home to some of the more traditional parts of Kyoto—including the geisha […]
Each year during Japan's rainy season, Fukushima's Jupia Land Hirata is home to an impressive hydrangea festival which also coincides with a variety of colorful lilies in bloom. There are a number of paved walking paths through the grounds where […]
For three days in July, for the last 300 years, the people of Narita and surrounding towns have gathered in the plaza in front of Shinshoji Temple in Narita to celebrate summer planting and ask for blessings from the Buddha […]
This is a celebration of the Tanabata legend, which originated in China. There are several interpretations of the legend but this is how the story is commonly told in Japan: Orihime, the daughter of the Emperor of the Universe Tentei, […]
Japan has great festivals ranging from fight festivals and firework festivals to ones celebrating fertility and scaring children into being good. In the little sleepy village of Kashimo in Nakatsugawa is one about slugs. Yes, slimy slugs. Though it is […]
The Yasukuni Shrine is notable for many things: its history, its purpose, and the intense political controversy surrounding it. For a few nights each summer, however, many people put aside their political stances and enjoy the wonderful Mitama Festival. "Mitama" […]
In the Tone River area, every summer in just a few towns acrobats performs a curious centuries-old ritual that is sure to astound locals and visitors alike. This is Tsukumai, a rite meant to invite rains to bless agriculture. Noda […]
Natsu Biraki Music Festival in Tokyo will be held at the Arena Tachikawa Tachihi in Tachikawa. Hugely popular, mid-July music event held over three days has grown immensely over the last decade. The festival features many of Japan's most engagingly […]
The Kokura Gion festival is a frenzy of mid-summer community drumming in northern Kyushu and is held annually over three days from the third Friday through Sunday of July. Kokura Gion Festival Report In the middle of July, I took […]
Walking the narrow streets of small town Akaoka at night with nothing illuminating the way but candlelight and paper lanterns strung up above, one instantly notices this is not your typical festival. Feeling a little more like Halloween, Ekin Festival […]
The landlocked Chinese province of Yunnan is situated in the country's southwest, and is known for its spectacular natural landscapes (think snow-capped mountains and terraced rice fields), UNESCO World Heritage Sites like the Old Town of Lijiang, and being regarded […]
The Uchiwa Matsuri, possibly the largest of Saitama's summer festivals, is held in Kumagaya, just north of Tokyo in Saitama Prefecture. With a history dating back to 1750, the three-day festival in July attracts over 750,000 revelers and is one […]
Although a small countryside town, Tsuwano has festivals with a few hundred years of history. The most important of them is the Heron Dance in July. Performing on the same date every year, it draws a big crowd of spectators. […]
Taking place in the picturesque Kiso township of Nagano Prefecture, the Mikoshi Matsuri is an annual event involving approximately 100 wooden mikoshi (portable, shoulder-borne shrines). The mikoshi, weighing up to 375 kilograms, are carried and flipped (!) end over end […]
The Himeji Yukata Festival is the oldest festival of its type in Japan, dating back more than 260 years. Yukata are the light and often very bright kimonos worn in Japan during the summer months. While yukata are a part […]
Tobata is a ward of the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka prefecture and this festival dates back over 200 years to when Tobata was a village. The Yamagasa are tall floats that are carried around. At night the floats are […]
The historic town of Hita in Oita prefecture is the venue for the Hita Gion Matsuri in late July. Gion festivals are held throughout Japan in July, but each brings a touch of local flavor with lavishly decorated floats and […]
The Kihoku Lantern Festival takes place in the port town of Nagashima in Kihoku, Mie Prefecture. Each year a large, elaborate cloth lantern is set afloat on the harbor in the afternoon. After nightfall, there is a spectacular fireworks display […]
Bright and cheerful sunflowers are a quintessential sign of summer in Japan, and the annual Akeno Sunflower Festival boasts fields upon fields of them to enjoy. The event began in 1993, and at the venue, you'll also find a sunflower […]
Every steaming hot summer evening for over 500 years, the people of Tsushima in Aichi Prefecture go down to the Tenno river. It’s not that the riverside is cooler on the evening of the fourth Saturday of July, but that’s […]
It's summertime and Ikebukuro is gripped by Hawaiian fever. The annual Hula Festival is hard to miss as the colors and sounds of the Pacific sweep the northwestern part of Tokyo. Up to 3,900 dancers show off their skills on […]
Marine Day or Umi no hi (literally ‘day of the sea’), is celebrated every third Monday of July. While there aren’t any traditional ceremonies (being a newer national holiday), many people choose to visit the beach on this day. Parks […]
This year, Osaka’s Tenjin Festival will only include the mikoshi procession, which will happen on the 25th, as well as various shrine rituals. The festival’s evening components, including the lighting of fires on the boats and the firework displays, are […]
The Daigaku festival takes place in late July every year at the Ikune Shrine in Osaka. Like other matsuri, it’s a lively community event with street food stalls and children’s games accompanying the traditional elements. The eponymous daigaku is an […]
Tenjin Matsuri (天神祭) is one of the most symbolic water and light festivals in Osaka also ranked as one of the three greatest festivals in Japan, held annually on the 24th–25th of July. Tenjin is the 'god of the sky' […]
The middle of May in Matsuyama is an uncertain time, weather-wise. It might be burning hot. It might rain. It might be cold and overcast. Or it might be all of these on the same day. You can expect any […]
In late July, the Tokyo suburb of Kagurazaka will host the annual Kagurazaka Matsuri. Famous for Kagurazaka Dori, the area's chic and pedestrian-friendly street slope, the suburb is also known for the historical Akagi Shrine, Edo period geisha houses, and […]
The annual Haneda Matsuri, or Haneda Festival, is held on the last week of July every year. At this lively traditional summer festival, the mikoshi, or the portable shrine, is carried by 3,000 people, with more than 30,000 visitors attending. […]
Many people in Tokyo have no idea how different Hokkaido is. It is almost 200 km from Sapporo to Obihiro, the same distance as between Shizuoka and Tokyo. But instead of 20 million people and the world’s 15th biggest GDP […]
There is a myriad of great summer festivals to enjoy in Tokyo, and one of the prettiest has to be the Chidorigafuchi Moat Lantern Festival. With a history dating back to 1958, the event sees around 2000 gentle lantern lights […]
The Sumiyoshi Matsuri (festival) happens over three days in and around Osaka’s Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine. The highlight is the nagoshi harai shinji ritual which happens on a middle day. The ritual involves participants (women and children) processioning through a straw […]
Kuroishi, a town on the central Tsugaru Plain of Aomori Prefecture holds its own Nebuta festival (called Neputa in these parts) on July 30th and August 5th each year. The parade features more than 50 floats, most in the shape […]
The Kawagoe Million Lights Summer Festival is a highlight of the annual calendar in the quaint Edo period town of Kawagoe. Just thirty minutes from Ikebukuro station in Tokyo. It has been celebrated for around 150 years. It is a […]
It looks like something out of a Godzilla movie, or a fishy version of King Kong, Clash of the Titans gone wrong! Giant land-based Sea Bream up to 18 meters long and six meters high, charging and attacking each other […]
Each year on the last weekend in July the city of Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture, the "city of music", already renowned for its historic castle, adds to its fame by hosting the raw and elegant sound and fury that is […]
Eisa is a style of dancing that originated throughout the Okinawan islands, and each year in early August the Okinawa Zento Eisa Matsuri draws in hundreds of thousands of spectators. For those who can't get to Okinawa, the Shinjuku Eisa […]
In the summer months, local fireworks events are held all over rural Japan. Organized by sundry Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs, and Chambers of Commerce, they are typically quite spectacular, reflecting the pride of the local area, and they draw crowds […]
Each year from late July through until late August, Kagawa's Sanuki Mannou Park hosts a Summer Festa event which is filled with fun summertime activities. There are around 15,000 cheerful sunflowers and 6,000 green kochia to marvel at, along with […]