Published October 20, 2026 at 2:00 PM JST
In the temple town of Johana, part of Nanto in Toyama, six lacquered hikiyama floats and their song-filled iori-yatai carts roll through lantern-lit streets in early May.
Quick answer: The Johana Hikiyama Festival is the spring festival of Johana Shinmeigu Shrine in Nanto, Toyama Prefecture, with a parade of six lacquered hikiyama floats and hut-shaped iori-yatai carts. It is typically held on May 4 and 5, with the evening of the 4th as a quieter preview, though the organizers set the exact program each year. Its squeaking wheels, graceful iori songs and lantern-lit evening parade make it a favorite of the UNESCO-listed float festivals.
A temple town's spring festival
The Johana Hikiyama Festival takes place in Johana, a small town in the southwest of Toyama Prefecture that is now part of the city of Nanto. The town is sometimes called the Little Kyoto of Etchu, the old name for the Toyama region, and its calm streets and old townhouses help explain why. The festival is the annual spring festival of Johana Shinmeigu Shrine, and it fills the town with floats, lion dancers and music.
According to the Nanto tourism information, the festival is typically held on May 4 and 5, the evening of the first day being the eve and the second day the main festival. Before the festival was moved to the Golden Week holidays, it was held on May 14 and 15 around the time the national government designated it, according to the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
The festival is formally called the Hikiyama event of the Johana Shinmeigu Festival, and the Japanese government designated it an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in February 2002. In December 2016, together with 32 other festivals, it was added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
How a silk and temple town built a festival
The history of the festival is tied to the history of the town. According to a regional tourism guide, Johana was founded as a temple town in 1559 when the Zentokuji temple moved there, and markets and businesses grew up around it. During the Edo period the local silk industry was supported by the Kaga domain, and Johana silk was sold in Kyoto and Edo. By 1693 the population was reported to be more than three thousand.
The shrine festival grew along with the town. The tourism guide says the shrine was moved to its present site in 1574, and it dates the first festival there to 1685. It explains that the festival took its present shape in the early 1700s, when residents prayed for good fortune in a time of economic difficulty. A portable shrine, a ceremonial umbrella pole and a lion dance were added in 1717, and hikiyama floats carrying statues of the deities in 1724. Songs and the iori-yatai carts joined the festival in the early 1800s.
Sources such as the Toyama tourism pages and a regional festival guide describe the festival as being about 300 years old, which fits with these dates. The festival has also relied on the surrounding community. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that farming families from the surrounding countryside have traditionally helped pull the floats.
The hikiyama and the iori-yatai
The stars of the festival are the six hikiyama, elegant floats that carry statues of deities. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the hikiyama are two-tiered, four-wheeled floats finished in lacquer and decorated with carvings and metal fittings. The regional guide names deities such as Ebisu, Daikokuten and Hotei among the statues, each kept in a house in town until the day of the parade.
Each hikiyama is accompanied by an iori-yatai, a small, bottomless cart that is decorated like a tiny teahouse. The Toyama tourism pages explain that these are modeled on the teahouses of Kyoto's Gion district, and that the upper decoration of each is richly worked. The cart has no floor so that the performers who accompany it can walk beneath it as they play. Local lacquerware known as Johana lacquer, wood carvings and gold leaf are used on the floats, the pages add.
The festival procession is arranged in an old order. According to the Nanto tourism information, lion dancers and a ceremonial spear called a kenboko lead the way to drive off evil, followed by umbrella-like ornaments called kasaboko that welcome the gods. Banners, portable shrines, the iori-yatai and finally the hikiyama follow. The parade is a lively reminder that the festival's original purpose is to welcome the gods into the town.
What happens on the two days
The festival opens on the evening of May 4 with the eve festival, when the six deities are shown at yamayado, houses in six districts of town where the statues are kept. The Kanazawa tourism page says these houses open to the public and the gods are welcomed there. The Agency for Cultural Affairs adds that three portable shrines travel to a temporary shrine on the eve, so the town begins to stir with ceremony.
On the morning of May 5 the statues are moved from the houses to the floats, as described in the regional guide. The Nanto tourism information for a past year lists the gathering of all floats in front of the Johana Betsuin temple in the morning, followed by performances of iori songs and mechanical puppet shows in the afternoon, and a lantern-lit parade in the evening. The exact times change from year to year, so check the current program.
After dark the floats are decorated with lanterns and become lantern mountains, according to the regional festival guide. The evening has a very different mood from the daytime, with the glowing floats moving slowly through the narrow lanes.
The squeak of the wheels and the iori songs
The sound of the festival is as distinctive as the sight. The hikiyama wheels are made of zelkova wood, and the regional guide notes that they make a loud squealing sound when the floats are pulled around corners. The Toyama pages say the floats have eaves that fold back to fit through narrow streets and that the screeching of the wheels at tight corners draws crowds. The sound is said to ward off evil spirits.
Alongside the wheels comes the music. The iori-uta, or iori songs, are sung and played by performers who walk with the iori-yatai. The Toyama tourism pages list the shamisen, bamboo flutes, drums and the iori songs as the instruments and style of the festival. The regional festival guide describes the tone of the songs as graceful and recalling the past, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs says young people from the community perform the chant at various points along the route.
Mechanical puppet shows called karakuri are also staged, in front of the Johana Hikiyama Kaikan, according to the Nanto tourism information. Together with the songs, the puppets and the creaking floats, the festival has a strongly handmade, local feeling.
Planning a visit
Johana Station on the JR Johana Line is about a ten-minute walk from the festival venue, according to the regional festival guide. The Kanazawa tourism page describes other routes: by train, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Shin-Takaoka and then transfer to the Johana Line, which takes about 50 minutes; by bus, the Nanto-Kanazawa line from Kanazawa Station takes about 60 minutes; and by car, Johana is about 40 minutes from Kanazawa Station and, according to the regional festival guide, about three minutes from the Fukumitsu interchange of the Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway.
The main festival day is a busy holiday, so plan your arrival, especially if you are traveling by bus or car. Arriving in the morning allows you to see the floats gathering and to choose a place along the route for the afternoon and evening. Many of the streets are narrow, so please stay behind the lines set by the organizers, leave room for the float crews to turn and keep the way open for the lantern parade.
Because May evenings in Toyama can be cool, bringing a light jacket is a good idea. For up-to-date times and any traffic arrangements, check the Nanto tourism association website before you travel.
The town, the UNESCO listing and what to see
Between the festival events the temple town is pleasant to explore. Zentokuji, the temple whose arrival began the town's growth, is part of its story, and the old streets recall the silk trade that once supported the town. The Johana Hikiyama Kaikan, where the karakuri shows are staged, is a natural stop for anyone curious about the floats and their history. Check opening details with the tourist office.
The UNESCO listing places Johana among 33 float festivals across Japan. UNESCO describes these as traditions in which people of all ages and genders share the work of building, decorating and pulling floats, strengthening community ties and offering prayers for peace and protection from disaster. In Johana that spirit is easy to see in the way the whole town prepares together, from the craftspeople who care for the lacquer to the performers who learn the songs.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Johana Hikiyama Festival held?
It is typically held on May 4 and 5. The evening of the 4th is the eve festival and the 5th is the main day with the parade of floats and the evening lantern procession. The organizers set the exact program each year, so check the Nanto tourism association website before traveling.
How many floats take part?
According to the Toyama tourism pages and the regional tourism guide, six hikiyama take part, each accompanied by an iori-yatai cart. Lion dancers, ceremonial poles and portable shrines also join the procession.
Why do the floats make such a loud squeaking sound?
The floats ride on large wheels made of zelkova wood, and when the crews turn the floats around tight corners the wheels squeal loudly. The sound is said to ward off evil spirits, and it has become one of the signature sounds of the festival.
Further reading: the Kanazawa tourism page for the Johana Hikiyama Festival, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism multilingual page on the Johana Hikiyama Festival, the regional guide to the Johana Hikiyama Festival and the Toyama cultural heritage page on the festival.
Keep exploring: Takaoka Mikurumayama Festival: Seven Lacquered Floats on May Day; Uozu Tatemon Festival: Lantern Boats That Glow on a Toyama Summer Night; Takayama Festival: Twice-a-Year Floats in a Preserved Mountain Town; Hida Furukawa Festival: Thundering Drums and Lantern Floats in Spring.