Festivals & Events

A collection of famous festivals and cultural events are held throughout the year all over Japan and include must-see attractions for visitors.

May 2013
Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
		1	2	3 Hakata Dontaku Festival All day event In Fukuoka City Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, Japan Map to In Fukuoka City People dressed up in unique costumes parade through the streets while clapping shamoji spoons and dance on stages and in squares in various quarters of the town. Find out more Kite-Fighting Festival & The Float Parades All day event Nakatajima Nakatajima Dunes, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture Japan Map to Nakatajima Hamamatsu Festival - More than 100 kites are flown in the sky over the Nakatajima Dunes, one of the three largest sand dunes in Japan, which overlooks the Enshunada Sea. Find out more	4 Hakata Dontaku Festival All day event In Fukuoka City Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, Japan Map to In Fukuoka City People dressed up in unique costumes parade through the streets while clapping shamoji spoons and dance on stages and in squares in various quarters of the town. Find out more Kite-Fighting Festival & The Float Parades All day event Nakatajima Nakatajima Dunes, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture Japan Map to Nakatajima Hamamatsu Festival - More than 100 kites are flown in the sky over the Nakatajima Dunes, one of the three largest sand dunes in Japan, which overlooks the Enshunada Sea. Find out more	5 Kite-Fighting Festival & The Float Parades All day event Nakatajima Nakatajima Dunes, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture Japan Map to Nakatajima Hamamatsu Festival - More than 100 kites are flown in the sky over the Nakatajima Dunes, one of the three largest sand dunes in Japan, which overlooks the Enshunada Sea. Find out more
6	7	8	9	10	11 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more	12 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more Kanda Matsuri All day event Kanda Myojin Shrine Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan Map to Kanda Myojin Shrine 100 portable shrines gather for this festival and a procession of 300 people parades through the streets of Tokyo. One of the most famous festivals of Tokyo, Kanda Matsuri is also ranked among the three largest festivals of Japan. Find out more
13 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more Kanda Matsuri All day event Kanda Myojin Shrine Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan Map to Kanda Myojin Shrine 100 portable shrines gather for this festival and a procession of 300 people parades through the streets of Tokyo. One of the most famous festivals of Tokyo, Kanda Matsuri is also ranked among the three largest festivals of Japan. Find out more	14 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more	15 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more Hollyhock Festival All day event Various places in Japan Japan Map to Various places in Japan Some 500 people wearing splendid ancient costumes and traditional make-up parade through the main streets of Kyoto. This festival came to be called Aoi Matsuri because aoi (hollyhock) leaves are used as ornaments not only on the people's costumes, but even on cows and horses. Places: Kyoto Imperial Palace: Kyoto Gyoen, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto City Shimogamo-jinja Shrine: Shimogamo Izumigawa-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City Kamigamo-jinja Shrine: Kamigamo Motoyama, Kita-ku, Kyoto City Find out more	16 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more	17 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more Grand Festival of Spring, Nikko All day event Nikko Toshogu Shrine Sannai, Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture Japan Map to Nikko Toshogu Shrine Shunki Reitaisai - A procession of 1,000 samurai warriors staged at a world heritage site. Find out more	18 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more Grand Festival of Spring, Nikko All day event Nikko Toshogu Shrine Sannai, Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture Japan Map to Nikko Toshogu Shrine Shunki Reitaisai - A procession of 1,000 samurai warriors staged at a world heritage site. Find out more Bonfire Noh performance All day event Kofukuji Temple, Nara City Noborioji-cho, Nara City, Japan Map to Kofukuji Temple, Nara City Takigi O-Noh is a traditional Japanese musical drama performed on the open-air stage built on the lawn of Kofukuji Temple, which is registered as a World Heritage Site. Find out more	19 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more Bonfire Noh performance All day event Kofukuji Temple, Nara City Noborioji-cho, Nara City, Japan Map to Kofukuji Temple, Nara City Takigi O-Noh is a traditional Japanese musical drama performed on the open-air stage built on the lawn of Kofukuji Temple, which is registered as a World Heritage Site. Find out more
20 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more Asakusa Sanja Matsuri All day event Asakusa Shrine Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan Map to Asakusa Shrine The Sanja Matsuri, a symbolic festival of Tokyo, is one of the largest festivals of mikoshi (portable shrines) held in Asakusa, which is a quarter where you can still find traditional houses and streets. Dates: Third Sunday and preceding Friday and Saturday of May. Find out more Mifune Matsuri All day event Oigawa River Asahi-cho, Saga, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City, Japan Map to Oigawa River The scene of a boat party on a river from 1,000 years ago is reproduced by some 20 boats on the Oigawa River flowing through Arashiyama in Kyoto. Find out more	21 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more	22 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more	23 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more	24 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more	25 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more Asakusa Sanja Matsuri All day event Asakusa Shrine Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan Map to Asakusa Shrine The Sanja Matsuri, a symbolic festival of Tokyo, is one of the largest festivals of mikoshi (portable shrines) held in Asakusa, which is a quarter where you can still find traditional houses and streets. Dates: Third Sunday and preceding Friday and Saturday of May. Find out more	26 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more Asakusa Sanja Matsuri All day event Asakusa Shrine Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan Map to Asakusa Shrine The Sanja Matsuri, a symbolic festival of Tokyo, is one of the largest festivals of mikoshi (portable shrines) held in Asakusa, which is a quarter where you can still find traditional houses and streets. Dates: Third Sunday and preceding Friday and Saturday of May. Find out more
27 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more	28 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more	29 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more	30 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more	31 Cormorant Fishing All day event Nagaragawa River Minato-machi, Gifu Prefecture Japan Map to Nagaragawa River Ukai is a traditional method of catching small Japanese trout by manipulating seabirds called u (cormorants) in the Nagaragawa River, famous for its limpid stream, in Gifu Prefecture. This fishing is performed every night between May 11th and October 15th except during a full moon or in heavy rain. Find out more