Kameidoten Usokae Bullfinch Exchange 2025
Kameido Tenjin Shrine 3-6-1 Kameido, Koto, TokyoThis annual event held at Kameidoten-jinja in Koto Ward celebrates the passing of good fortune into the year…
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Sapporo Snow Festival 2025
Odori Park, Sapporo 大通公園, 7-chrome Odorinishi, Chuo, Sapporo, HokkaidoWhat started off in 1950 as community event to display six snow statues made by local high school…
Setsubun at Narita-san 2025
Naritasan Shinshoji Temple 成田山新勝寺, 1 Narita, Narita, TokyoWhile setsubun festivals are held at many temples across the country, the rituals at Asakusa’s Sensoji, Takao-san Yakuo-in…
Setsubun (Bean Tossing) at Sensoji 2025
Sensoji Temple Senso-ji, 2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito, TokyoTraditionally setsubun (節分) marks the day before the beginning of a new season, but in post-Edo times the…
Otaru Snow Light Path Festival 2025
Otaru, Hokkaido Otaru Station, 2 Chome-22 Inaho, Otaru, HokkaidoThe Otaru Snow Light Path Festival (小樽雪あかりの路, Otaru Yuki Akari no Michi) began in 1999 with the hope…
Saidaiji Eyo (“Naked Festival”) 2025
Saidaiji Kannon-in 別格本山 金陵山西大寺観音院, 3 Chome-8-8 Saidaijinaka, Higashi Ward, Okayama, OkayamaThe Saidaiji Eyō (西大寺会陽), more commonly known as the Hadaka Matsuri (“Naked Festival”), gets more international media attention…
Yokote Kamakura Snow Festival 2025
Yokote, Akita 横手市民会館, 13-1 Minamimachi, Yokote, AkitaThe ritual of hollowing out a mound of snow and building a small hut like an igloo is…
Some no Komichi 2025
Nakai 西武新宿線 中井駅, 1-19-1 Nakaochiai, Shinjuku, TokyoUntil the 1950s, many dying factories could be found along the river near Nakai Station in Shinjuku Ward…
Kyoto Higashiyama Hanatoro 2025
Higashiyama, Kyoto Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, KyotoHanatoro (花灯路, Hanatōro) is a 10-day long illumination that takes place in Kyoto’s Higashiyama in March and Arashiyama…
Mount Takao Fire Walking Festival 2025
Takaosan Car Park 2390 Takaomachi, Hachioji-shi, TokyoThe Fire Walking Festival (火渡りまつり, hiwatari matsuri) is held near Takaosanguchi Station on the second Sunday of March…
Asakusa’s Honzon Jigen-e 2025
Sensoji Temple Senso-ji, 2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito, TokyoAccording to legend, a statue is said to have been discovered on the 18 March 628 on the…
Kanamara Matsuri (“Penis Festival”) Parade 2025
Kanayama Shrine Kanayama Shrine, 2-13-16 Daishi Ekimae, Kawasaki, KanagawaKanamara Matsuri (otherwise known as the "Penis Festival" or “Festival of the Steel Phallus”) is an annual festival…
Hana Matsuri at Sensoji 2025
Sensoji Temple Senso-ji, 2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito, TokyoThis event at Sensoji Temple celebrates the Buddha’s birthday on 8 April and is more formally called Bussho-e…
Edo Yoshiwara Ichiyo Sakura Matsuri (Oiran Dochu) 2025
Ichiyo Sakura Komatsu Dori 一葉桜小松橋通り, 4-40-7 Asakusa, Taito, TokyoOiran (花魁) is a word used to refer to the high-class prostitutes that worked in the Yoshiwara red-light…
Nikko Yayoi Festival 2025
Nikko Futarasan Shrine 2307 Sannai, Nikko, TochigiThe Yayoi Festival (弥生祭, Yayoi Matsuri) is held on the 13 to 17 of April each year at…
Teruhime Matsuri 2025
Shukujii Park 石神井公園, 1-26 Shakujiidai, Nerima, TokyoThis festival started in 1988 as a way to remind people of the prestigious past of this area…
Akabane Baka Matsuri (All Fools Festival) 2025
Akabane Station Akabane Station, 1-1 Akabane, Kita, TokyoThis oddly named festival was started in 1956 by the store owners in the commercial district around the…
Kurayami Matsuri (Darkness Festival) 2025
Okunitama Shrine Okunitama Shrine, 3-3-1 Miyamachi, Fuchu, TokyoKurayami Matsuri is one of Tokyo’s most popular festivals and one with a rich and long history with…
Ome Grand Festival 2025
Sumiyoshi Shrine 12 Sumiecho, Sumiyoshi Shrine, Ome, TokyoHeld on the 2nd and 3rd of May every year the Ome Grand Festival ("Ome Taisai") is—as its…
Yokohama International Costume Parade 2025
Yamashita Park Yamashita Park, 279 Yamashitacho, Naka-ku, Yokohama, KanagawaAnnual parade with marching bands and dance teams that takes place during the Golden Week holidays. Check the…
Kachiya Festival 2025
Kameidokatori Shrine Kameidokatori Shrine, 3-57-22 Kameido, Koto, TokyoOver 1,000 years ago the military leader Fujiwara no Hidesato came to the shrine to pray for victory…
Kanda Matsuri 2025
Kanda Myojin 2-16-2 Sotokanda, Chiyoda, TokyoKanda Matsuri is held in mid-May at Kanda Myojin Shrine on odd numbered years (so intense was the…
Kyoto Aoi Matsuri 2025
Kyoto City Kyoto, Kyoto, KyotoThe Aoi Matsuri (葵祭) or the “Hollyhock Festival” is one of Kyoto’s three major festivals (the others being…
Sanja Matsuri 2025
Asakusa Shrine Asakusa Shrine, 2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito, TokyoHeld annually on the third weekend of May, Sanja Matsuri is probably Tokyo’s biggest festival. It celebrates the…