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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
This year, Kansai beach town Shirahama is doing something different with its summer fireworks program. Instead of one big show, it’s doing six small shows on different Sundays throughout the season. Dates: July 17th, 24th, and 31st and August 7th, […]
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 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 […]
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 […]