Gaido Japan

Kawagoe Million Lights Summer Festival
2022-07-30 00:00 - 2022-07-31 20:00 (Asia/Tokyo)
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 personal favorite event of my family of six. As locals, we have been to this festival several times over the years. It is always held on the last Saturday and Sunday of July each year. The festival extends a large area stretching from the Atre Maruhiro Department store beside the Tobu Tojo Line Kawagoe station up to the top of the main tourist thoroughfare “Ichibangai in the historic warehouse district. Much of the area is made pedestrian-friendly for the course of the festival. Over a thousand festival stalls line the tourist district and station areas. And, as they claim, there are a million lights. There are also stalls and events around Kawagoe City Hall and on the periphery, such as at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine and Kitain Temple. What to expect at Kawagoe Million Lights Summer Festival Festival lanterns line many of the streets in Kawagoe. You are even greeted by a line of lanterns as you come out of the Tobu Tojo Line Kawagoe station exit. Whether there are a million or not, I do not know, but there are certainly thousands throughout the city. Portable shrines, known as Mikoshi in Japanese, are carried around the town. As the sun begins to set festival floats come to join them for a dramatic parade. Festival Stalls Festival stalls with various offerings are available at all the key locations of the festival including around Hon-Kawagoe, on Crea Mall, and in the tourist area. They don’t just sell food or drink. Some stalls have festival games such as gallery shooting, goldfish scoop, hoops, and other traditional Japanese festival games. Entertainment Throughout the festival, in various locations, there are live performances either on stage or on the street. They include traditional as well as modern music and dance performances, sometimes in moving (but not parade) floats. There are parades too. They have a musket shooting event on an opening day, with the shooters dressed up in warrior outfits and kabuto helmets. You can pick up a timetable, with each of the locations marked on a map, at any of the train stations or information desks. Wind Chimes Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine has an annual wind chime event from early July until to early September. Escape the crowds for a few minutes of reprieve while listening to the soothing sounds of wind chimes in the historic and captivating shrine. Dealing with the heat Make no mistake, it is hot. Kawagoe is close to Kumagaya, the hottest city in Japan, and experiences similar temperatures. Pick up a free uchiwa, a Japanese-style fan, to help keep cool. It doubles up as a nice keepsake too. During the festival, there are several areas where you can cool down by a fan blowing out the cool mist. You can also enter one of the shops in the tourist district or on Crea Mall, the main shopping street, and refresh in the air conditioning. Should you need it, there are a couple of first aid stations set up for the festival period, for example at the car park of Maruhiro Department Store. You can just visit this first aid area just to see inside an ambulance and a fire engine as well.

Kuroishi Neputa Festival
2022-07-30 - 2022-08-05
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 popular in the neighboring Hirosaki Neputa with a small number of free-form Aomori Nebuta-style floats also taking part. The floats gather together on the 30th and the 2nd, so these are the best days to visit. On other days they move around the town and ceremonies are held.
Even though the festival is smaller than the Hirosaki and Aomori City processions, there is a history of Neputa in the area from the Edo period with the official city event beginning in 1955.

Sumiyoshi Matsuri
2022-07-30 - 2022-08-01 | Sumiyoshi Taisha, Sumiyoshi Taisha, Osaka, Japan
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 rope ring wearing Muromachi period costumes.
The parade of mikoshi (portable shrines) takes place on the last day of the festival. The mikoshi leaves Sumiyoshi and proceed to Shukuin Tongu shrine in neighboring Sakai City.

Lantern Festival at Chidorigafuchi
2022-07-29 19:00 - 2022-07-30 20:00
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 decorate the water’s surface, and there are several ways for visitors to take part.
Photo: Chiyoda Ward Tourism Association
The most budget-friendly option is simply enjoying a stroll around the moat and appreciating the lanterns from a distance, which won’t cost you a single yen. Alternatively, you can write your own wishes or prayers on a lantern to be released on the water (¥ 1000 per lantern).
Photo: Chiyoda Ward Tourism Association
There’s also the opportunity for a select number of people to enjoy the lanterns from a unique vantage point–by rowboat on the moat. The selection process for this is done via a lottery system and is limited to 80 groups per day and a maximum of three people per group. The lottery applications will go live on the official website from June 20th – don’t fret if you get a 404 Page Not Found before that date!
Photo: Chiyoda Ward Tourism Association

Taiwan Festa at Yoyogi Park
2022-07-29 10:00 - 2022-07-31 20:00
The Taiwan Festa at Yoyogi Park is an annual event that has been running since 2016, and it originally started as a way to strengthen the relationship between Japan and Taiwan. The event has drawn in visitor numbers of up to 150,000 in previous years, and the festival includes various booths related to Taiwanese culture, gastronomy, tourism, and more. Attendees can enjoy live music and dance performances, taste test foodie favorites like xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and bubble tea, and purchase a variety of different Taiwanese souvenirs. Admission to the event itself is free, but do bring some yen if you plan on grabbing a bite to eat or picking up some souvenirs.

Yubari Fantastic Film Festival
2022-07-28 18:00 - 2022-08-01 19:00
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 (Tokyo’s GDP is equal to that of South Korea), there are only 5 million people in the whole of Hokkaido. Tokyo became the biggest metropolis in the world just after the Meiji Period, and Osaka was even bigger than Tokyo in the 1920s. On the other hand, parts of rural Hokkaido in winter snow look more like Siberia than Tokyo. In fact, during the ice age, Hokkaido was connected with Siberia. Halfway between Obihiro and Sapporo is Yubari, a city of 10,000 that used to be the home to 100,000 people. The trains only call at Yubari station five times a day, unlike in Tokyo where there could be five trains at the station every minute. Yet Yubari has a faded charm that can’t be found in Tokyo. Faded posters and architecture, lost in time while Sika deer wander the streets. In the midst of the snow season, people from around the world celebrate this city’s past and future at the Yubari Fantastic Film Festival. The name evokes images of circuses and fun fairs, as if Laurel and Hardy appeared in candy stripe costumes, hollering, “roll up, roll up, the greatest show on earth is here!” Actually, the feature film this year, “The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir’ is in many ways the embodiment of the Yubari, whose hero rises from obscurity to worldwide fame through a fantasy-like adventure.

Haneda Matsuri
2022-07-28 09:00 - 2022-08-29 18:00
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. As Haneda used to be a fishermen’s town, the mikoshi is carried in a unique way, called the Yokota, which represents a boat swaying on the ocean. This article originally appeared on the Ota-City.com website and is republished with permission.

Yairo Watermelon Festival
2022-07-27 09:00 - 2022-08-10 17:00
Japanese watermelons are known for being deliciously sweet and juicy, but also quite expensive. There’s a way to minimize the expense and maximize your watermelon enjoyment, and that’s by heading to the Yairo Watermelon Festival. The festival runs from late July to mid-August at the Japan Agriculture Minami Uonuma Branch, and for the bargain price of only 500 yen (or 300 yen for elementary-aged children and below), you’re able to indulge in as much watermelon as your stomach can handle. The Yairo Watermelon variety available at the event is said to be even sweeter and juicier than their other counterparts on the market, making them a perfect and refreshing dessert at this time of year. There is an undercover tatami mat area at the event, so you can enjoy your fill of watermelon out of the sun’s glare. As well as the all-you-can-eat watermelon, there are also watermelons of various sizes that you can purchase to take away with you. They are substantially discounted compared to usual market prices, so be sure to stock up!

The Kagurazaka Matsuri
2022-07-25 19:00 - 2022-07-28 21:00
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 French schools. Held over four days, the first two days of the festival center around the Houzuki Market. Houzuki is ground cherries used during the Obon festival in summer and was once thought to prevent chronic illness. The final two days feature the Awa Odori Festival with crowds of evening dancers performing traditional Japanese dances that originated from far-off Tokushima Prefecture. Kagurazaka features a lively local eatery scene and along with the four days of festival street food stalls, the area will be full of happy revelers enjoying a traditional Japanese summer party atmosphere.

Tokyo Revengers Exhibition Return
2022-07-24 11:00 - 2022-07-25 19:00
The popular manga series Tokyo Revengers has been serialized in the Weekly Shōnen Magazine since 2017 and has exceeded a staggering 40 million copies sold. After the Tokyo Revengers Exhibition was held with great success in Tokyo and Osaka, the event has been renamed Tokyo Revengers Exhibition Return and will be headed to the Niigata Manga Animation Information Center from June 4th until July 18th. The event will include a variety of original artwork from Ken Wakui (the artist behind the manga), and despite the venue being smaller than previous versions of the exhibition, there is no change to the number of works on display. Advance tickets can be purchased via the Lawson website at a slightly discounted rate than on-the-day tickets.

Live Earth Matsuyama
2022-07-24 10:00 - 17:00
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 during Live Earth Matsuyama. As the name suggests, the festival is about live music with an earth-loving theme. The event runs from 10 in the morning to 5 in the evening. This small local festival was born in 2007 and it has come a long way. Literally in fact. It used to be held in the car park of the gymnasium above the Fuwari Road Station. Report from 2012 At around noon I made my way up the hill by bicycle towards the venue. It’s a long steep climb and I passed a number of people trudging up on foot. I didn’t envy them. As the car park came into view, I could hear a pleasant throbbing hum coming from the hilltop. This was the music of Dewachen, a combo that features sitar, didgeridoo, throat singing, chanting, and hand percussion. Having handed over my 1,500 yen ticket, I bumped into an English friend who greeted me cheerfully; “We’re living the dream. This drone is driving me nuts”. I plonked myself down on a tarp and was introduced to my friends for the afternoon. Someone went to the beer stall to get a round of Asahi Super Dry in plastic cups that had to be bought separately and reused, to emphasize the importance of resources. The cold, leaden sky gave way to scorching sunshine. Someone had given me a blanket to keep my legs warm, and I wondered about transferring it to my head for shade. The venue was filled with rows of stalls selling a very tempting array of food with a generally “ethnic” theme, clothing, accessories, and outdoor gear. Other stalls offered massages, aromatherapy, and barefoot art for children. Between the lectures, the music went on with some fairly major Japanese acts including Ua, who sang her interesting but undanceable freeform jazz, and Ikue Asazaki who sings in the Okinawan style. The sun went in again and it got really cold. Then the reggae/ska group Little Tempo took the stage, and at last, some danceable music poured forth. Those with a taste for it shook their booty hard, waving empty reusable plastic cups. The Japanese rapper Rankin’ Taxi, topped off with a jaunty gold crown, joined Little Tempo and entertained the crowd with his scurrilous lyrics and banter. Woodstock this is not. Nor is it Fuji Rock. But for a pleasant day out with food, music, and an impromptu community, it can’t be beaten.

Kitakami River Rubber Boat Race
2022-07-24 09:00 - 15:00
The Kitakami River Rubber Boat race is an annual event held on the 4th Sunday of July in Morioka, Iwate. The race starts just below the Shijuushida Dam (四十四ダーム) and ends at the Kaiun Bridge (開運橋) in front of Morioka Station. The participants end the journey at the Minami Ohashi (南大橋). Every year over 500 teams participate in that thrilling event, making it the biggest rubber boat race in Japan and one of the biggest in the world. There are 2 categories, timed race, and pleasure, the racers start first and the pleasure boats go last so as to not impede the race participants. All participants gather under the Minami Ohashi (南大橋) from around 6:00 in the morning, many people camp there overnight to be ready early. On normal days, camping isn’t allowed at the site. It’s good to get there early to get a good spot near the river, the ground under the bridge turns into a huge barbecue party after the race. After registration, all participants are taken to the Shijuushida Dam by bus. The teams start in groups of 50 at 5 minutes intervals from 9:00 AM. It takes about 2 hours for all participants to start. The site at the dam is too small to accommodate all participants at once, hence the gradual start. You have to carry your inflatable boat, oars, life jackets, and anything else that you might need during the race. It’s a good idea to bring water, the course is just under 10 kilometers long. You should wear long sleeves or some good sunblock to avoid sunburn, this year most of the time it was cloudy. Once you start, you have to go to the end. The average participants take about an hour to complete the course. The race itself varies from year to year depending on the water level. It’s much easier if the water is high but also faster. Low-level water makes for a very treacherous race, due to the high rock hazard. There are 2 tricky passes, the first one after about 3-4 kilometers, where the river is much faster and turbulent and the last one after the goal mark. As you pass under Meiji Bashi (明治橋) there is a drop of about 2 meters, so be prepared. 2017 was the only time that the race was canceled in 41 years due to torrential downpour. The parking area at Minami Ohashi was under almost 1 meter of water. The river changes significantly as we go down with parts slow-moving, others fast-moving with lots of rocks. If you carry any electronic equipment make sure it’s secured and waterproof. The possibility of going overboard is quite high. You can find more info about the race at the following link, in Japanese only; http://www.kawakudari-morioka.jp/ You’ll pass under several bridges along the way, each one of them is loaded with people cheering the participants on. You can also rent a boat if you don’t have one, you can find a link on the event home page. Attached oars make for a much faster race but most people just sit on opposite sides of the boat and row.

Tenjin Matsuri
2022-07-24 04:00 - 2022-07-25 23:00
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’ and Matsuri is a festival in Japanese. The other festivals are the Gion Matsuri in Kyoto and Kanda Matsuri in Tokyo. Osaka, also known as the City of Water and Light, hosts this festival that dates back more than a thousand years ago. This festival started in year 951 to commemorate the deification of the great scholar, Sugawara no Michizane, enshrined now as the God of Learning. Come and you will get a first-hand experience of how the Japanese celebrate their summer. Tenjin Matsuri is the amalgamation of a boat festival, a fireworks display of over 3000 shots, and parades of Omikoshi-portable shrines. And of course, a lot of energy from the crowd clad in colorful yukata (summer kimono) and geta (wooden slippers) to be a part of this annual summer event. Start your exciting journey into the festival from the Tenmangu shrine. For early birds, on the 24th of July, the Yomiya-sai(Pre-evening festival) starts as early as 7:45 am with rituals and prayers for the success of the festival. There is a Taiko-Japanese drum performance accompanied by a Danjiri (Omikoshi carrier) dancer and dragon dance to signify the start of this festival. Do not miss the golden Omikoshis on display in Tenmangu shrine used in the festival. By 11 am in the Tenmangu shrine you can see the people dressed in costumes getting ready for the possession of the Omikoshis. One of the famous stops that you won’t want to miss is the possession on Midosuji street all the way to Tenjinbashi bridge. Sound and music are of course a big part of any festival, for Tenjin Matsuri, you can see people young and old, sweating profusely in the summer heat, chanting loudly, playing traditional music while 20-30 Danjiris shout to the rhythm of the music while carrying the sacred Omikoshis that weights up to hundreds of kilos. At 6 pm, the Boat Possessions starts on Okawa River. Try to spot the possession with a Kabuki actor, or the boat with the Japanese puppets while enjoying your walk along the stalls by the river. On 25th July, known as the Honmiya – the actual festival day, the three main events are the Land Possessions, Boat/ Water Possessions, and the Fireworks at night. The highlight is the Hanabi firework that starts around 7:30 pm with a much bigger crowd. In Japan, a summer festival is not complete with Hanabi, this must-see event displays 3000 shots of awesome fireworks. The firework is indeed a great end to a grand festival. The people, the energy, the sound, and the color of Tenjin festival are indeed an experience a Japanese traveler wouldn’t want to miss.

Daigaku Festival at Ikune Shrine
2022-07-24 01:00 - 2022-07-25 20:00
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 impressive array of 79 lanterns, originally constructed in celebration of a successful prayer for rain. Ikune is the only shrine in Osaka where a daigaku can be seen, as the others burned down during a battle. Singing, dancing, and a great display of traditional drumming are the main show here, but a wander around the local streets is also a necessity – the street food is delicious and the atmosphere is infectiously upbeat. It’s worth noting that there are two Ikune shrines within a walk of each other, the Daigaku Festival is at the north-westerly of the two.

Tenjin Festival
2022-07-24 - 2022-07-25
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 not going ahead. Moreover, should Osaka be placed under a state of emergency or quasi-state of emergency, there may be no parade at all.
Although this is held throughout Japan, the festival that takes place around Osaka Tenmangu shrine is the most famous. Touted as one of Japan’s Top 3 festivals, the Tenjin Matsuri has a history of over 1,000 years.
There are two main parts to the festival, one on land and the other on the water. On dry land, there is a procession of 3,000 people dressed in the style of courtiers of the 8th to 12th centuries accompanied by mikoshi (portable shoulder-borne shrines). The water part of the festival takes place when the same 3,000 participants board boats at Tenmanbashi bridge and sail up the river.
As the sun sets, fires are lit on board the vessels, creating a spectacle for those on the banks. Although they’re lit just for effect now, originally, they were lit for night patrols or fishing.
As the darkness descends, there is also a fireworks display.

Odaiba Lantern Festival
2022-07-23 18:30 - 22:00
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 and aquariums also hold events and festivals to celebrate the importance of the ocean. Odaiba’s Marine Park located right behind DECKS Tokyo Beach and Aqua City (near Daiba Station or Odaiba-Kaihin-Koen Station on the Yurikamome Line), holds an annual Lantern Festival, where thousands of colored lanterns are lit along the beach, thoughtfully placed to reveal an image when seen from a vantage point. Although the highlight of the festival is the lanterns lit by volunteers, there are many activities and things to do while waiting for the sun to set. Local musicians and singers perform by the beachside café, where you can sit and enjoy the scenery: cruising ferries, the Rainbow Bridge, and skyscrapers surrounding the bridge. If you’re a fan of seafood or feeling adventurous, you may also choose to try the oysters that are freshly grilled by vendors on the street. Whether you are there to enjoy the music, witness the hundreds of lanterns flickering in the night, or even just for an evening stroll, the Lantern Festival at Odaiba is definitely an event you don’t want to miss. More photos of the Odaiba Lantern Festival

Umi no Hi (Ocean Day) at Odaiba
Odaiba is set in a wonderful light using paper lanterns, which are lit up by citizen volunteers every year on the third Monday

Tokyo Hula Festival
2022-07-23 18:00 - 2022-07-24 20:00
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 stage, where the gentle sounds of Hawaiian music are playing to the elegant routines of the dancers. First held in 2002, the festival celebrates the friendship between Ikebukuro and Hawaii, where 13% of its residents are Japanese Americans. The festival is usually held on the 3rd weekend of July, so take your seats and be transported to the Pacific Islands.

Tsushima Tenno Matsuri
2022-07-23 08:30 - 2022-07-24 21:00
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 when one of the three major river festivals in Japan, the nationally famous Tsushima Tenno Festival takes place. The Tenno Festival was said to have been a favorite of local war-lord Oda Nobunaga, and today has been designated a Nationally Intangible Folk Cultural Asset. Tsushima is a small city of around 66,000 people, just west of Nagoya City. Apart from the Tenno Festival, Tsushimas’ Autumn Festival, and Wisteria Festivals which also share a long history and traditions, Tsushima’s other claim to fame is the little-known fact that there are more temples in Tsushima than there are in Kyoto! However, it’s that fourth Saturday evening in July, the night of the “Yoimatsuri”, the Night Festival, and the celebrations that continue the next day with the “Asamatsuri”, or Morning Festival that has everyone Tsushima bound. The festival begins after sunset on a Saturday night. Various displays of matchlock gun firing and a kind of handheld fireworks resembling an upright bazooka get the festival goers in the mood. Singing and dancing also take place before the highlight of this particular festival takes to the water. Five large and graceful Makiwara boats, consisting of two boats strapped together with purified straw ropes and decorated with over 400 large paper lanterns each, arranged in a dome-like flying saucer shape, but supposed to represent a mountain, glide along the river, to the accompaniment of Tsushima flute players on board. The reflections of the hundreds of lanterns in the dark, calm waters add to the ethereal effect. The five boats represent the former five villages that made up Tsushima. The dome-shaped arrangement of 365 lanterns, one for each of the days in the year, features a further 12 or 13 lanterns in an antennae-like fashion above it. Under the orange-yellow dome of lanterns are 30 red lanterns. More lanterns decorate the bow of this floating festival float. Most folks dressed in light summer kimono called Yukata watch from the riverside, others take to small boats to enjoy a meal, drinks, and entertainment. All the while, cameras click as the lantern-laden boats sail by, and fantastic fireworks roar like thunder in the sky above. The next morning, the same five Makiwara boats are redecorated with gorgeous red, black, and gold hand-woven tapestries and Karakuri Ningyo mechanical dolls dressed in Noh costumes. These boats are joined by a sixth, the “Ichieguruma” from neighboring Higashiho-Cho. This boat too is decorated with dolls representing characters from Japan’s traditional Noh performing arts. Also on board are ten men, armed with cloth-covered halberds and specially chosen to take part in the ritual, where they dive off the boat with the halberd, before swimming, or walking to shore before presenting the broad-bladed pole-arm to the Tsushima Shrine. The rest of the day is filled with various displays, events, and festivities. If you find yourself in Japan in late July, make sure you visit Tsushima for both days of one of Japan’s biggest and most spectacular festivals, the Tsushima Tenno Matsuri. It’s an awe-inspiring sight on a hot summer’s night!

Akeno Sunflower Festival
2022-07-23 08:00 - 2022-08-21 17:00
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 maze and the ability to purchase locally made products. From sunset until 9 pm the fields will be lit up, giving visitors the chance to enjoy the flowers illuminated under the night sky. Admission to the Akeno Sunflower Festival is free.

Hokuryu Sunflower Festival
2022-07-23 00:00 - 2022-08-21 00:00 | 板谷 Hokuryu, Uryu District, Hokkaido 078-2511, 板谷 Hokuryu, Uryu District, Hokkaido 078-2511, Hokuryu, Hokkaido, 078-2511, Japan
The summer months in Japan see several sunflower festivals pop up on the calendar, one of the best in Hokkaido’s Hokuryu Sunflower Festival. The event has been running since 1987 and showcases the beauty of a staggering 2 million sunflowers covering 23 hectares. Along with the overwhelming number of sunflowers to appreciate, the event also has two sunflower mazes, various sunflower-themed foods such as sunflower soft-serve ice cream, bicycles for rent, and more. Admission to the event is free, but there is a charge if you want to participate in the sunflower mazes or rent a bike.

Hita Gion Festival
2022-07-23 | Yasan Shrine, Yasan Shrine
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 traditional music.
The Hita Gion is touted as one of the “top 3 Gion festivals in Kyushu”. How these rankings are made is a bit of a mystery, but if you’re in the area in late July it’s worth a look.

Kihoku Lantern Festival 2022
2022-07-23
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 known as the Saiun Kujaku (Rainbow Peacock) as a backdrop to the floating lantern. From 3 pm until the fireworks begin at 8 pm there are performances and other entertainment on a stage.

Flea Market at Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park
2022-07-22 10:00 - 2022-07-23 13:00
Note as of September 1, 2021: This event has been suspended indefinitely due to the pandemic. Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park hosts a flea market monthly, weather permitting. The market does not go ahead when it is raining or if there is any weather warnings in place. Furthermore, from 2021 you have to book in advance to visit the flea market as they are only allowing a certain amount of shoppers in each time. The flea market is held on the main avenue of the park, and there are generally about 200 stalls. The event is organized and run by Recycle Man who manages about 30 flea markets monthly in Saitama, Chiba, and Tokyo. Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park is a beautifully landscaped park with great facilities for families. The Tokorozawa Aviation Museum is also on the grounds. The park hosts several events monthly. Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park is relatively close to the new Tokorozawa Sakura Town and the permanent TeamLab outdoor exhibition ‘Digitized Nature’. Combine a visit to a traditional Japanese flea market and a typical Japanese park with a visit to a modern entertainment hot spot and an atypical park for a rounded day trip to Saitama!

Tobata Gion Yamagasa Festival
2022-07-22 - 2022-07-24
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 adorned with lanterns, making them an impressive sight.
The festival has been recognized by the Japanese government as an important intangible cultural asset.

Himeji Yukata Festival
2022-07-22 - 2022-07-24
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 of most summer festivals, it’s the main point of this one so people make an extra effort with their yukata. Reportedly, 70% of festival-goers come kitted out in their yukata.
The evening festival (it runs from 4:30 pm until 9:30 pm) features around 700 food and drink stalls along with entertainment. If you get in on the yukata action yourself, you’re entitled to some discounts. In particular, entry to the zoo, museum, and Himeji Castle is free.

Kiso Mikoshi Makuri Festival
2022-07-22 | Suimu Shrine, Suimu Shrine
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 by groups of men.
The climax of the festival is in the evening of the 23rd, but if you’re there on the evening of the 22nd, you can enjoy a fireworks display.

Heron Dance
2022-07-20 22:00 - 2022-07-27 17:00
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. As the most important ceremony of the year, the townsfolk come out of their homes, some shops close for the time of the dance, and even the school closes during the early afternoon (if the festival is on a weekday). While it would be easy to move the festival’s date to a weekend, the locals take pride in preserving the ceremony as it was, thus sticking to the old dates of 17 and 20 July. (7 and 14 in the old lunar calendar). Watching the ceremony, the shining white feathers of the heron costume exude pureness and cleanness. The crowd is silent during the dance; one’s ears are concentrating on the chanting, the music, and the clicking of cameras. There is also a charming children’s performance, which preserves the traditional parts of the dance. There are a lot of spectators despite the hot weather in July, and one has to be careful not to get a heatstroke. History The Heron Dance originated from Kyoto’s Gion Festival and was introduced to Yamaguchi’s Ouchi clan first, and then to Tsuwano in 1542 by the Yoshimi clan. While the ceremony was discontinued in Kyoto and Yamaguchi, the people of Tsuwano kept it alive for the past 470 years. The only time Sagi-mai was not performed, was when the Sakazaki clan wanted to erase the previous domain ruler, Yoshimi clan’s, customs. The Sakazaki clan was in power for a short time from 1601 to 1616, and the following Kamei clan reintroduced the dance in 1643. Kosugi-mai, or young heron dance, started some 60 years ago, to let children experience local traditions from an early age. Elementary school students dress up in a cute version of the heron costume and perform a modified dance. There is a male heron with the beak open, and a female heron with the beak closed, indicating that the dance is mating. The herons are believed to protect from illnesses and diseases. There are also two men in red wigs carrying long staffs in their hands, fending off demons and ghosts.
Kosugi: Elementary school students dress up and dance a cuter version of the Heron dance
The rest of the procession comprises musicians and two dancing figures of yet unknown roles. The wings are made of wood, and their clicking sound is incorporated into the music as an instrument. This makes it heavy, about 12-15kg for the feathers and another 3kg for the bamboo headpiece. The Festival The festival starts around 15:00 at the Yasaka Shrine, where the deity lives. On 20 July, the ceremonial dance is performed at 10 locations in the town, starting from the shrine, going to the place where the palace was standing (now Tsuwano High school), and onward to the former merchant town. The final destination is the Otabisho, the temporary resting place of the deity. One week later on the 27th, the deity returns to the shrine taking the same route backward. Recently, the first dance is performed in front of the community hall in the Old Town part of Tsuwano, where the preparations begin. The Young Heron dance starts earlier, around 13:00, and goes around the same route as the Heron dance.

Kumagaya Uchiwa Matsuri
2022-07-20 13:00 - 2022-07-22 21:00
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 of the region’s most popular summer events. The festival name was coined in the early 1900s as part of a gimmick whereby local vendors would hand out uchiwa fans in order to attract more customers. These traditional hand-held fans are still used throughout Japan to ward off the summer heat. With Kumagaya summers being memorably warm, this arrangement worked out well for everyone.
Along with the street stalls, mikoshi portable shrines, and Japanese drumming, what sets the Uchiwa Matsuri apart is the energy of its 12 massive parade floats. The floats’ extravagance stemmed from the festival coinciding with a boom in the silk industry in days past. Flaunting their wealth, merchants would compete with each to develop and show off the most flamboyant and opulent floats. The result is what you see today. Different events during the festival are held on different days so please see the official website for details.

Yunnan Festival in Tokyo
2022-07-20 11:00 - 2022-07-28 17:00
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 as the birthplace of tea. A festival taking place in Tokyo is set to celebrate the culture of this region, and it’s free for visitors to enjoy. The Yunnan Festival in Tokyo is a multi-day event, and it includes the chance for visitors to dress in traditional attire from different ethnic groups in the province (Yunnan has one of the highest levels of ethnic diversity in all of China), sample various flavors of Pu’er tea, watch dance performances, and plenty more.

Yamaguchi Gion Matsuri
2022-07-20 - 2022-07-27 | Yasaka shrine, Yasaka shrine, kyoto, Japan
The Kyoto of the area, Yamaguchi was modeled after the beautiful city and it’s no surprise it has a similar festival. When the Yasaka shrine was brought from Kyoto and the spirit of the deity implanted during the Kanjo ceremony, the Yamaguchi Yasaka shrine was formed. One of the main attractions of the festival is the “Dance of the Heron” which marks the beginning of the celebration. The elegant dance is performed wearing heron costumes and is classed as a Folk Cultural Property by the prefecture. There is a large dance performance involving the residents of the city and a mikoshi procession takes place.
The festival takes place on the same three days every year: the 20th, 24th, and 27th of July.
