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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]