Japanese Festivals and Seasons FAQ

Quick answers about Japanese festivals, holidays and seasonal customs, with dates and what to expect. Each answer links to the full guide. See the main Japan FAQ or browse all articles.

When is the Aomori Nebuta Matsuri?

It is held every year from August 2 to August 7 in Aomori City and is counted among the great summer festivals of the Tohoku region. Floats the size of small houses, made of painted paper and lit from the inside, roll through the streets with taiko drummers and flute players, while dancers in flower-covered hats call out Rassera. Read the full guide: Aomori Nebuta Matsuri: Glowing Paper Giants, Haneto Dancers and Fireworks

When is the Tenjin Matsuri?

It is held every year on July 24 and 25 in Osaka in honor of Sugawara no Michizane, the scholar-poet worshipped as the god of learning. Boats carrying drummers, dancers and a golden portable shrine travel the Okawa River, and fireworks give it the nickname festival of fire and water. It is counted among Japan's three great festivals, alongside Kyoto's Gion Matsuri and Tokyo's Kanda Matsuri. Read the full guide: Tenjin Matsuri: Osaka's Midsummer Festival of Fire, Water and Boats

How often is the Kanda Matsuri held?

The main festival takes place in odd-numbered years around May 15, so the next one is May 2027. Gilded portable shrines sway on the shoulders of bearers through the streets of Tokyo, and the festival has been part of the city's life since the days when Tokyo was called Edo. Kanda Myojin is the shrine behind the festival. Read the full guide: Kanda Matsuri: Tokyo's Grand Mikoshi Festival Held Every Other May

When is the Takayama Matsuri?

It is two festivals in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture: a spring one on April 14 and 15, and an autumn one on October 9 and 10. Carved, lacquered floats hung with gold leaf roll through the old merchant quarter, and a wooden puppet on one float is controlled by nine operators pulling thirty-six strings. Read the full guide: Takayama Matsuri: Gilded Floats and Puppet Marvels in the Hida Mountains

When is the Nagasaki Kunchi?

It is held every year on October 7, 8 and 9 and is dedicated to Suwa Shrine, the guardian shrine of Nagasaki. Japanese folk dance, Chinese-style dragon dances and a comic dance inspired by Dutch traders share the stage, and spectators call out Mottekoi (roughly, bring it back) to ask for an encore. Read the full guide: Nagasaki Kunchi: The Dragon Dances and Dutch Ships of Japan's Port City

When is the Chichibu Night Festival?

It is held every year on December 2 and 3 at Chichibu Shrine in Saitama Prefecture, about two hours by train from Tokyo. The festival is more than 300 years old, features six floats and winter fireworks, and is part of a group of Japanese float festivals recognized by UNESCO. Read the full guide: Chichibu Night Festival: Winter Floats and Fireworks Just Outside Tokyo

What is the Akita Kanto Matsuri?

It is held each year from August 3 to 6 in Akita City, where performers balance tall bamboo poles hung with rows of glowing paper lanterns on a palm, forehead, shoulder or hip. It is counted among the four major festivals of the Tohoku region and is recognized as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Read the full guide: Akita Kanto Matsuri: Balancing Towers of Golden Lanterns in August

What is Seijin no Hi (Coming of Age Day)?

Seijin no Hi is a public holiday on the second Monday of January that celebrates young people who are becoming adults. Many wear furisode (formal kimono with long sleeves), dark suits or hakama (pleated trousers) to ceremonies at local halls. The legal age of adulthood changed in 2022, but many towns still hold ceremonies for twenty-year-olds. Read the full guide: Seijin no Hi: Why Japan Still Celebrates Adulthood at Twenty

What is hatsumode?

Hatsumode is the first visit to a shrine or temple in the new year, one of the most widely observed customs of the Japanese year. Visitors toss in a coin, bow, clap and make a quiet wish. Omikuji (fortune slips), omamori (protective charms) and ema (wishing plaques) are part of the experience. Read the full guide: Hatsumode: How Japan Makes Its First Shrine Visit of the New Year

What is Kodomo no Hi (Children's Day)?

Kodomo no Hi is a national holiday on May 5 and the last day of Golden Week. It celebrates children's health and happiness and gratitude to mothers. Cloth carp streamers called koinobori fly from tall poles, families display samurai helmets, and an iris bath is part of the seasonal custom. Read the full guide: Kodomo no Hi: Carp Streamers, Samurai Helmets and Iris Baths on May 5

What is tsukimi, Japan's moon-viewing custom?

Tsukimi (literally moon viewing) is an autumn custom of looking at the moon, giving thanks for the harvest and hoping for another good one. A traditional table holds silvery pampas grass, a pyramid of white dumplings and seasonal vegetables, all arranged to face the full moon. A version of the custom has been practiced for well over a thousand years. Read the full guide: Tsukimi: How Japan Celebrates the Autumn Moon with Dango and Pampas Grass

Why do people eat fried chicken at Christmas in Japan?

Christmas is not a public holiday in Japan and only a small share of the population is Christian, yet it has grown into one of the most enjoyed seasons of the year. A fast-food chain became part of the holiday meal, so many families order a bucket of fried chicken weeks ahead, alongside the white-and-red Christmas cake. Christmas Eve is often treated as a date night. Read the full guide: Christmas in Japan: Fried Chicken, Strawberry Cake and Romantic Eve

Who gives chocolate on Valentine's Day in Japan?

Traditionally, women give chocolate to men on Valentine's Day, and men answer a month later on White Day, March 14. The department store food halls fill with chocolate every February, and the traditions are changing today. Read the full guide: Valentine's Day and White Day in Japan: Who Gives Chocolate to Whom

When do ume (plum) blossoms bloom in Japan?

In most of Japan, including Tokyo, plum blossoms typically bloom in February and March, and some varieties begin earlier, giving the earliest hint of spring before the cherry trees. Well-known viewing places are Kairakuen, Yushima Tenjin and Dazaifu Tenmangu. The fruit becomes umeboshi (pickled plums) and umeshu (plum liqueur). Read the full guide: Ume Blossoms: The Plum Season That Greets Japan Before the Cherry Trees

When is wisteria season in Japan?

From late April into May, wisteria (fuji in Japanese) hangs from trellises in violet, pink and white clusters, some nearly two meters long. Three well-known places to see it are Ashikaga Flower Park, Kameido Tenjin Shrine and Kawachi Fuji Garden, and some gardens require advance tickets in the peak weeks. Read the full guide: Fuji Season: Japan's Wisteria Waterfalls of Late April and May

What is tsuyu, Japan's rainy season?

Tsuyu (also pronounced baiu) is the rainy period that sweeps across most of Japan between spring and summer, caused by a stationary weather front that brings weeks of cloud and recurring rain. It is also the season when hydrangea gardens reach their peak, including the well-known temples Meigetsuin and Hase-dera in Kamakura. Read the full guide: Tsuyu: Japan's Rainy Season and the Hydrangea Temples Worth the Rain

Why are temple bells rung 108 times on New Year's Eve?

Joya no Kane is the bell of New Year's Eve, rung at Buddhist temples on the last night of the year. Most temples ring it 108 times, spread across the late evening with a pause between strokes. A bowl of toshikoshi soba (year-crossing noodles) is the traditional meal that goes with the evening. Read the full guide: Joya no Kane: Why Japan Rings 108 Temple Bells on New Year's Eve

What is the Yokote Kamakura Festival?

It is a winter festival in Yokote, Akita Prefecture, where rounded domes of packed snow called kamakura (igloo-like huts) glow orange from candles inside, and children call out a welcome to visitors from within the larger huts. At heart it is a children's celebration. Read the full guide: Yokote Kamakura Festival: A Guide to Akita's Glowing Snow Huts

What is the Yosakoi Soran Festival?

It is a five-day June festival in Sapporo that draws around two million spectators and tens of thousands of dancers. Troupes in matching jackets and headbands dance down closed-off streets, each member clacking a pair of wooden clappers called naruko. The Yosakoi dance began in Kochi on Shikoku, where the first festival was held in 1954. Read the full guide: Yosakoi Soran: Sapporo's Thundering June Dance Festival Explained

What are Higan and ohagi?

Higan is a Japanese Buddhist observance held for seven days around each equinox, in spring and autumn: three days before, the equinox day itself and three days after. Families clean ancestral graves and lay out flowers and incense. Ohagi (or botamochi in spring) is the soft rice cake covered in sweet bean paste that goes with it. Read the full guide: Higan and Ohagi: Japan's Equinox Weeks of Remembrance and Sweet Rice Cakes