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Tokushima Awa Odori Festival

Tokushima Awa Odori is rated by many as Japan’s top summer festival. It takes place in Tokushima – a prefecture on the island of Shikoku. The dance festival (Odori means dance) has its origins as a summer Obon festival. ‘Awa’ […]

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Minato Mirai Bon Odori Dance Festival

The Minato Mirai Bon Odori Festival will once again be held in mid-August in Rinko Park, Yokohama. Looking out over the evening waters of Yokohama Bay, Rinko Park provides one of the most pleasant locations for one of Japan's most-loved […]

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Summer Gagaku Performance in Sendai

On August 12th, the Gochinza-kinensai Ceremony is held at Osaki Hachiman Shrine in Sendai. This mid-summer ceremony is truly a traditional ritual, on the next day, the shrine performs a Gagaku music concert as part of a memorial dedicated to […]

Free

Kanmon Straits Fireworks Festival

This is a joint fireworks festival across the Kanmon Straits between Shimonoseki City in Yamaguchi Prefecture and Kita-Kyushu City in Fukuoka Prefecture. More than 1 million people on both sides of the strait are expected to watch the almost 1-hour […]

Yanai Goldfish Lantern Festival

The small city of Yanai in Yamaguchi Prefecture is famous for its lanterns, but they're a little different from many lanterns you've likely seen in the past. The lanterns here are shaped like goldfish, and you'll see them displayed outside […]

Free

Asakusa Toro Nagashi

Summer sees the staging of the annual Toro Nagashi festival in Asakusa. Originally held to pray for the souls of the deceased, the practice was rekindled in the mid-20th century. Now a strong community event, the festival sees participants releasing […]

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Shoro Nagashi Lantern Floating Ceremony

For 2022 (as with 2020 and 2021), the ceremony will take place, but sightseers are discouraged. The ceremony is intended for those who have lost relatives since the last O-Bon. The annual holiday of Obon runs until the night of […]

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Hitoyoshi Fireworks Festival

Taking place at the riverside in Nakagawahara Park in Hitoyoshi City, this fireworks festival would usually attract roughly 55,000 people to attend to ooh and ah at 5,000 pyrotechnics. Unlike a lot of other festivals which sell tickets for seats […]

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Daimonji Okuribi

This is a memorial service for the spirits of fallen soldiers and to pray for peace which takes place on August 15th every year. A large 大 (the kanji symbol for great) is set alight on Mount Wakakusa using 108 […]

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Sayama Sunflower Maze

There is a community sunflower field maze in the Horigane area of Sayama City every August. The sunflowers typically bloom during the last two weeks of August. It doesn't feel like a huge sunflower field as you walk among the […]

Free

Miyazu Toro Nagashi Fireworks

Held on in the beautiful Amanohashidate area, this event features lantern floating and fireworks for a magical evening in Shimasaki Park. The floating of 10,000 Toro Nagashi lanterns takes place from 6 pm until 7.30 pm and the display of […]

Free

Gozan no Okuribi

The locals call it Daimonji, the celebration during the height of the O-bon festival where the city’s surrounding mountains are lit up with five bonfires. Three of the bonfires are lit in the form of Kanji, while the other two […]

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