This festival takes place on June 24th each year at Izawanomiya (Izawa Shrine) – one of the 123 shinto shrines that makes up the giant Ise Grand Shrine complex in Mie Prefecture. Additionally, it’s yet another officially recognized intangible cultural […]
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” […]
ust a few minutes’ walk from Hachioji Station’s north exit is a summer market that’s got it all. You can peruse the stalls selling famed local goodies—from morning glory flowers, to Edo-style wind chimes, to tasty street food. And since […]
Hakata Gion Yamasaka is a festival with a 750-year history that features fundoshi (that ever-popular festival garment) clad men racing elaborately decorated floats that weigh in at 1 ton. The event is one of Fukuoka’s largest with approximately 1 million […]
Animage is an influential anime magazine that began publication in 1978. One of the early editors was anime producer Toshio Suzuki, who collaborated with Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki on articles and manga for the magazine. The subtitle of the exhibition […]
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 […]
To celebrate their anniversary, the Museum of Emerging Science and Technology (Miraikan) opens their doors for free on July 9th. They have a few different free entry days based on age, but this one is open to everyone. Note that […]
Mizudome-no-mai is a traditional spiritual event that is known to “stop rain”, which has been around for about 680 years. It takes place after the rainy season is well and truly over, which heralds the beginning of summer. People at […]
Over 700 years old, noh theatre interspersed with the comic performances of kyogen, is the world's oldest theatre art. Enigmatically beautiful, both theatre styles maintain their appeal with a unique combination of cultural story, dance, music and costume. The National […]
Ever since Roast Battle Tokyo started, it's brought to the city's comedy fans a succession of riotous sold out shows, entertaining them as Tokyo's best comedians have traded body-blows with jokes as savage as they're hilarious. July 15th sees the […]