Topics
Otaru Ushio Festival
Otaru's largest summer festival is "Ushio Nerikomi," a festival that started as a prayer for local community development and aims to pass down Otaru's history and culture to the next generation. Some 6,000 people dance through the center of Otaru. The main venue is at the Port of Otaru, where people can enjoy many stalls and a grand fireworks display over the harbor.
DATE Late July
- Address
- 047-0007
5 Minatomachi, Otaru City, Hokkaido - Access
- About 3 minutes on foot
- Distance
- About 300m
- Links
-
Otaru Ushio Festival
- Contact
-
Otaru Tourism Association
TEL +81-134-33-2510
YOSAKOI SORAN FESTIVAL
This typical Sapporo festival mixes the clappers from Kochi's Yosakoi Festival and “Soran-bushi" , the traditional folk song of Hokkaido. At Odori Park and other venues you can see elaborately planned creative clothing and impressive footwork from each team. Many teams come to participate from around Hokkido and around Japan, and recently more and more international teams are joining as well.
DATE Middle June
- Address
- 060-0042
odori Nishi 8-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan - Access
- About 50 minutes by car
- Distance
- About 40 km
- Contact
-
Sapporo Tourist Association
TEL +81-11-211-3341
Kanto
Acknowledged as one of the national intangible cultural assets in Japan, the Kanto Festival in Akita City is one of the three major summer festivals in the Tohoku (northeast) region, and has been held to pray for rich harvest for more than 250 years. Decorated with many lanterns which is regarded as straw rice bags, long bamboo poles is also called Kanto, and Kanto poles swaying in the summer night are compared to ear of rice. It has been said that devoting oneself daily and sense of balance is needed to learn the technique to handle long and heavy Kanto poles with complete control and to become a Kanto master. In the Kanto Festival, please enjoy the inherited Kanto technique.
DATE August3-6
- Address
- 010-0951
1, Kyokuhokusakae-cho, Akita-shi, Akita - Access
- 20 minutes
- Distance
- 7km
- Links
-
Akita Kanto Festival
- Contact
-
Akita Kanto Executive Committee
TEL +81-18-866-2112
Tanabata Lantern Festival
Green bamboo with multi-colored strips of paper and streamers hanging down, and hundreds of garden lanterns decorated with ukiyoe of beautiful women decorate the streets. The setting sun blends nicely with the light from the lanterns, which further emphasizes all of its colorful beauty and elegance. Another highlight of this festival is the YuzawaNankeSatakeDaiko drums.
DATE August 5-7
- Address
- 012-0826
2chome, Oomachi, Yuzawa-shi, Akita - Access
- 99 minutes
- Distance
- 97km
- Links
-
Tanabata Lantern Festival
- Contact
-
Tourism Promotion Division
TEL +81-18-860-2261
KomachiMatsuri
The KomachiMatsuri is a festival that recalls Ono no Komachi, poet of the Heian Period. There are dances, drums, karuta cards, and a recitation and dedication of Japanese poems by seven young "Komachi" girls chosen from Yuzawa City. There is also a children's parade, Yakunai dance, rice cake tossing, and a myriad of events. Don't miss the "Komachi" girls illuminated against the backdrop of Komachido Shrine in the darkness during the small festival held the night before.
DATE second Sunday in June
- Address
- 019-0205
Komachi, Ono, Yuzawa-shi, Akita - Access
- 124 minutes
- Distance
- 108km
- Links
-
YUZAWA City
Event of Yuzawaogachi - Contact
-
Tourism Promotion Division
TEL +81-18-860-2261
*The time required to sightseeing area, is the time required from Fushiki area.
Etchu Yatsuo Owara Dance -Kaze no Bon-
Owara Kaze no Bon is a traditional festival preserved and nurtured by the residents of Yatsuo. It features elegant, flowing dancing to the melancholic melody of the kokyu, a stringed instrument played with a bow. The mystical, graceful movements enchant more than 200,000 visitors from in and outside Toyama Prefecture each year. The eve celebrations run from August 20 to 30, leading up to the climax between September 1 and 3.
DATE 20th August - 3rd September
- Address
- 939-2342
2898-1 Kamishinmachi, Yatsuo Town, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture - Access
- 60 minutes by car
- Distance
- About 30kｍ
- Links
-
Etchu Yatsuo Owara Dance -Kaze no Bon-
Official site Tourism Infomartion in toyama - Contact
-
Tourism Division, Toyama Prefectural Government
TEL +81-76-444-3200
Tonami Tulip Fair
Tonami Tulip Fair is a very appropriate event to be held in Tonami City, noted for its extensive tulip cultivation, this nationwide known tulip fair features 1 million tulips of around 600 varieties blooming all over the Tonami Tulip Park. The fair is held from late April to early May in Tonami Tulip Park.
Also, the Tonami Tulip Gallery is located adjacent to the Tonami Tulip Park on its eastern side and offers information about tulips to the public.
It has various facilities such as ""Tulip Square"" where you can appreciate tulips blooming with lovely flowers in all seasons and ""Tulip Terrace"" where you can enjoy flowers in every season, attracting many tourists throughout the year.
Also, the Tonami Tulip Gallery is located adjacent to the Tonami Tulip Park on its eastern side and offers information about tulips to the public.
It has various facilities such as ""Tulip Square"" where you can appreciate tulips blooming with lovely flowers in all seasons and ""Tulip Terrace"" where you can enjoy flowers in every season, attracting many tourists throughout the year.
DATE from late April to early May
- Address
- 939-1382
Hanazonomachi, Tonami city, Toyama Prefecture - Access
- 40 minutes by car
- Distance
- 20kｍ
- Links
-
Tonami Tulip Gallery
- Contact
-
TONAMI FLOWER AND GREENERY FOUNDATION
TEL +81-763-33-7716
Kokiriko Festival
Kokiriko is an old folk song and dance handed down through generations in the villages around the Gokayama area, and designated as intangible cultural heritage of Japan.
Kokiriko was developed to prey for the productiveness of grain and played during a work break of rice planting and harvesting.
Players wear a traditional and elegant costume of the Middle Age. They dance with “Sasara,” a traditional wooden percussion instrument. The performance still attracts audiences.
The Kokiriko Festival is organized September 25 and 26 every year in Kaminashi, Nanto-city. In the festival, there is a special session when visitors can dance all together.
Kokiriko was developed to prey for the productiveness of grain and played during a work break of rice planting and harvesting.
Players wear a traditional and elegant costume of the Middle Age. They dance with “Sasara,” a traditional wooden percussion instrument. The performance still attracts audiences.
The Kokiriko Festival is organized September 25 and 26 every year in Kaminashi, Nanto-city. In the festival, there is a special session when visitors can dance all together.
DATE September 25-6
- Address
- 939-1914
754 Kaminashi, Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture - Access
- 60 minutes by car
- Distance
- About 50kｍ
- Links
-
Gokayama Tourist Information
- Contact
-
Gokayama Tourist Information
TEL +81-763-66-2468
Fushiki Hikiyama Festival “Kenkayama-Fighting Floats”
Fushiki Hikiyama Festival celebrates the bravery of the port town residents. Beautiful hanayama floats featuring flower-adorned conical hats in the daytime are redecorated at night into chochinyama floats adorned with some 360 lanterns. These floats, weighing about 8 tons each, clash with one another to the heroic beat of the Yamagaryu-daiko war drum in a grand event called katcha, which showcases the courage of the men of Fushiki.
DATE 15th May
- Address
- 933-0863
Fushiki Chuo-machi,Takaoka city,Toyama Prefecture - Access
- 15 min walk from port
- Distance
- About 1km
- Links
-
Fushiki Hikiyama Festival “Kenkayama-Fighting Floats”
- Contact
-
Tourism Division, Toyama Prefectural Government
TEL +81-76-444-3200
Takaoka Mikurumayama Festival
The Takaoka Mikurumayama Festival was inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list as part of the “Yama, Hoko, Yatai, Float Festivals of Japan” item in December 2016. The wheels, handrails, and beams of the “Mikurumayama” are decorated using Takaoka’s excellent metalwork, lacquerware, and dyeing. This line-up of some of the most splendid floats in Japan goes around the traditional float neighborhoods of the city, a true highlight of the festival. Floats can also be seen year round at the Takaoka Mikurumayama Museum.
DATE May 1 every year
- Address
- The area around Yamachou District and Katawaramachi, Takaoka, TOYAMA JAPAN
- Access
- 10 minutes on foot from the Ainokaze Toyama Railway Takaoka Station
- Distance
- Approximately 10 kilometers from the Fushiki-Toyama Port
- Links
-
Takaoka Mikurumayama Festival
Takaoka Mikurumayama Museum - Contact
-
Takaoka city Tourism Association
TEL +81-766-20-1547
Gion Festival
A UNESCO: Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
The Gion Matsuri, or Gion Festival, is a religious ceremony at Kyoto’s famous Yasaka Shrine, and its roots stretch back to the year 869. Originally a plea to the gods to save the citizens of Kyoto from the plagues that were sweeping through the city and country during this period, nowadays people flock from all over the country to be a part of the festivities. The highlight of the festival is the parade of the 33 “floats” called “yamaboko,” and sometimes referred to as “moving museums” due to their cultural importance. From 2014, the previously one-day parade will be split over two days, with 23 of the floats parading on the 17th of July, and the remaining 10 parading later on the 24th. The pageantry and scale of this parade are of utmost cultural significance, leading to the Gion Festival’s main parade of yamaboko floats being designated by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The Gion Matsuri, or Gion Festival, is a religious ceremony at Kyoto’s famous Yasaka Shrine, and its roots stretch back to the year 869. Originally a plea to the gods to save the citizens of Kyoto from the plagues that were sweeping through the city and country during this period, nowadays people flock from all over the country to be a part of the festivities. The highlight of the festival is the parade of the 33 “floats” called “yamaboko,” and sometimes referred to as “moving museums” due to their cultural importance. From 2014, the previously one-day parade will be split over two days, with 23 of the floats parading on the 17th of July, and the remaining 10 parading later on the 24th. The pageantry and scale of this parade are of utmost cultural significance, leading to the Gion Festival’s main parade of yamaboko floats being designated by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.
DATE July
- Address
- Higashiyama-ku Gion machi, Kyoto city
- Access
- 90 minutes
- Distance
- About 100km
Kimono Show at Nishijin Textile Center
Feel and experience the beauty of kimono!
The Center aims to publicize the beauty of kimono. In addition to the exhibits of traditional Nishijin textiles, you can enjoy kimono shows, experience hand-weaving under the guidance of professional craftsmen, and try on kimono yourself (including a juni-hitoe-12-layer kimono, maiko costume, and traditional town clothes). One-day rental of kimono is also available so you can stroll around Kyoto dressed in kimono.
The Center aims to publicize the beauty of kimono. In addition to the exhibits of traditional Nishijin textiles, you can enjoy kimono shows, experience hand-weaving under the guidance of professional craftsmen, and try on kimono yourself (including a juni-hitoe-12-layer kimono, maiko costume, and traditional town clothes). One-day rental of kimono is also available so you can stroll around Kyoto dressed in kimono.
DATE All year
- Address
- 602-8216
Horikawa- Imadegawa Minami-iru Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto JAPAN - Access
- 90 minutes
- Distance
- About 100km
- Links
-
Nishijin Textile Industrial Association
- Contact
-
Nishijin Textile Industrial Association
TEL +81-75-432-6131
Walking Around Kurayoshi in Kimono “Kurayoshi Kasuri”
"Kurayoshi Kasuri" is a handmade textile and is a traditional craft which has a history of over 150 years. Please enjoy walking around the old town of white-wall warehouses while dressing in Kurayoshi Kasuri with a picture-like vivid patterns.
- Address
- Kurayoshi City, Tottori Prefecture
- Access
- 90 minutes
- Distance
- 65㎞
- Contact
-
Tottori Prefectural Government Tourism and Exchange Bureau Tourism Strategy Division
TEL +81-0857-26-7273
