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 […]