10 Extraordinary Festivals in Japan | JAPAN and more
Book Confidently with our Flexible Booking Policy. LEARN MORE
Book Confidently with our Flexible Booking Policy.

LEARN MORE

JAPAN and more
  • Japan Tours
  • Services
  • CONTACT
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

Festivals in Japan

Home > Experiences > Festivals

Festivals in Japan are a highlight of any trip. Whether large or small, you are sure to see elaborate costumes, traditional floats, choreographed dancing, taiko drumming, food stands, and large crowds.

There is always a festival somewhere with local festivals happening throughout the year in small towns across Japan. The biggest and most popular festivals are held annually and not to be missed.

10 Extraordinary Festivals in Japan

Sapporo Snow Festival – Sapporo, Hokkaido

Sapporo Snow Festival – Sapporo, Hokkaido

(in chronological order, starting in January)

1. Sapporo Snow Festival – Sapporo, Hokkaido

The Sapporo Snow Festival or Yuki Matsuri is held every year in early February. More than two million visitors go to Sapporo to see the large snow and ice sculptures and to attend the festival events.

Yokote Kamakura Festival – Yokote, Akita

Yokote Kamakura Festival – Yokote, Akita

Photo by Chris Lewis / CC BY-NC

2. Yokote Kamakura Festival – Yokote, Akita

The Yokote Kamakura Festival is held February 15-16 every year in Yokote city. The 450-year old festival features hundreds of mini snow houses called Kamakura.

Omizutori – Nara

Omizutori – Nara

Photo by Musume Miyuki / CC BY-SA

3. Omizutori – Nara

Omizutori, or Water Drawing Festival, takes place at Todaiji Temple in Nara from March 1-14. It features the nightly burning of 10 giant torches of up to six meters long. The main event is on March 12 when there are 11 torches, each up to eight meters long.

Takayama Matsuri – Takayama, Gifu

Takayama Matsuri – Takayama, Gifu

Photo by Vintage Lulu / CC BY-NC-ND

4. Takayama Matsuri – Takayama, Gifu

Takayama Matsuri is held twice a year in Takayama city in Gifu prefecture, April 14-15 and October 9-10. The festival features large floats that are pulled throughout the city.

Sanja Matsuri – Asakusa, Tokyo

Sanja Matsuri – Asakusa, Tokyo

Photo by Yoshikazu Takada / CC BY

5. Sanja Matsuri – Asakusa, Tokyo

Sanja Matsuri is held on the third weekend in May at Asakusa Shrine in Tokyo. Around 100 portable shrines called mikoshi are carried through the streets to bring good luck to the people in the local area.

Hakata Gion Yamakasa – Hakata, Fukuoka

Hakata Gion Yamakasa – Hakata, Fukuoka

Photo by Sara P / CC BY-NC-ND

6. Hakata Gion Yamakasa – Hakata, Fukuoka

Hakata Gion Yamakasa is held in Fukuoka from July 1-15 with a spectacular grand finale on the morning of the 15th. Around 5:00 am, seven neighborhoods compete in a race pulling giant floats weighing more than a ton along the streets for five kilometers.

Gion Matsuri – Kyoto

Gion Matsuri – Kyoto

7. Gion Matsuri – Kyoto

Gion Matsuri is held at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto every year in July. It dates back to the 9th century and is one of the most famous festivals in Japan. The parade on July 17 features floats over 20 meters tall.

Tenjin Matsuri – Osaka

Tenjin Matsuri – Osaka

Photo by Nestor Lacle / CC BY

8. Tenjin Matsuri – Osaka

Tenjin Matsuri, dating back to the 10th century, takes place at Tenmangu Shrine in Osaka on July 25. There is a parade on the streets, a river procession, and a fireworks display.

Awa Odori – Tokushima

Awa Odori – Tokushima

Photo by Cotaro70s / CC BY-ND

9. Awa Odori – Tokushima

Awa Odori is held during the Obon season from August 12-15. It is a famous festival with traditional dancing in summer kimonos called yukata.

Chichibu Yomatsuri – Chichibu, Saitama

Chichibu Yomatsuri – Chichibu, Saitama

Photo by Kojihachisu / CC BY-NC-ND

10. Chichibu Yomatsuri – Chichibu, Saitama

Chichibu Yomatsuri, or Night Festival, is held on December 2-3 in Saitama prefecture. It features six large floats that parade along the streets on the evening of December 3rd and a very long, 2 1/2 hour fireworks display.

Ready for the Trip of a Lifetime?

Experience Japanese culture, travel like a local and get to know the real Japan on one of our Small Group Tours.

See Tours

More Experiences You Might Like

Theme Parks in Japan - Universal Studios JapanPixabay

Theme Parks

Japanese AlcoholShutterstock

Japanese Alcohol

Japanese Ryokan©JAPAN and more

Ryokan

Share this article
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail

Disclaimer: There are affiliate links in this article. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on these links, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. We have no association with the companies or the products reviewed. These are our own opinions of top travel products.

  • Baseball
  • Bullet Train Shinkansen
  • Festivals
  • Hot Springs Onsen
  • Japanese Alcohol
  • Japanese Theater
  • Karaoke
  • Museums in Tokyo
  • Pop Culture
  • Restaurants
  • Ryokan
  • Shopping
  • Skiing
  • Sumo Wrestling
  • Temples & Shrines
  • Theme Parks

ABOUT

Bex and Shawn in Nara

Becki & Shawn
Japan Travel Specialist

Hi, we’re Becki and Shawn! We love Japan and are truly passionate about Japan and Japan travel.

We’ve lived, worked, and traveled in Japan for 20+ years, so we know where to go, what to see, and how to get there. Join us in Japan for an adventure of a lifetime!

SEE OUR JAPAN TOURS
jrpass
Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com

SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW

Travel Japan Like a Pro

Get a FREE Checklist to help you plan your trip.
Plus, get email updates with Japan Travel Tips.

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

About

Becki & Shawn in Nara, Japan

Becki and Shawn
Japan Travel Specialists

Hi, we’re Becki and Shawn! We love Japan and are truly passionate about Japan and Japan travel.

We’ve lived, worked, and traveled in Japan for 20+ years, so we know where to go, what to see, and how to get there. Join us in Japan for an adventure of a lifetime!

Accreditations

Japan Travel Specialist Advanced Certificate
ARC Verified Travel Consultant Certification
State of California Seller of Travel Certificate of Registration
JATA Membership Certification

SERVICES

  • Japan Tours
  • Services
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

JAPAN INFO

  • Destinations
  • Experiences
  • Travel Tips
  • Blog

Reviews & Recommendations

See our TripAdvisor Reviews
See our Google Reviews
See our Facebook Reviews
Copyright - © 2016 - 2025,  JAPAN and more  |  Privacy Policy  |  Disclosure  |  Website Services by Weldon Websites
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Close

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy

Travel Japan Like a Pro

Get our FREE Checklist to help you plan your trip.
Plus, get email updates with Japan Travel Tips.

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
No spam, ever. You can unsubscribe any time.

Travel Japan Like a Pro Checlist