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FESTIVALS

The Takayama Festival is routinely ranked as one of Japan's most visually striking "matsuri," but the effects of an aging population has forced it to accept outside help to keep going.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 24, 2026
Farmers to tourists: Gifu’s rural festivals court new crowds to survive
With aging populations, the region’s once-famous festivals find themselves relying on outside help to keep homegrown traditions going.
Participants push and pull a <i>danjiri</i> though the streets of Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture, during a festival in September 2021.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 22, 2026
‘In my DNA’: Why Osaka’s high-risk danjiri festivals refuse to slow down
A pair of fatal incidents this month has revived a long-running debate: Does Osaka’s high-risk danjiri festival still have a place in modern society?
Festival floats are carried during the Saijo Festival in Saijo, Ehime Prefecture, in a previous year
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2026
Deputy mayor of city in Ehime dies after being crushed by festival float
Akihiro Nabae, 62, was among those carrying the float when the incident occurred on a riverbed in the city at around 5:45 p.m.
The Osaka Prefectural Police department is investigating the fatal festival float accidents that left two dead over the weekend.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2026
Two die and 16 hurt in Osaka danjiri float festival accidents
The victims, both men, were crushed under floats that overturned when traveling on the road, according to the Osaka Prefectural Police department.
U.K. artist Luke Jerram&#039;s signature giant moon installation looms over Tokyo&#039;s Shimokitazawa neighborhood during Moon Art Night Shimokitazawa.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 24, 2026
Moons, mazes, mountains: 91AV原创 art scene this fall will tickle your fancy
A busy season lies ahead with new festivals in Tokyo and Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, as well as ongoing exhibitions and performances.
Yatsushiro Myokensai, the annual fall festival of Yatsushiro Shrine in Kumamoto Prefecture, is usually held in late November, featuring the "shinkō gyōretsu"?(divine procession) parade.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2026
Iconic fall festival parade in Yatsushiro canceled in wake of Kumamoto quake
This is the third time the parade has been canceled, the previous cancellation was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and?heavy rain in 2020.
Akari Kanbe, the chief priest of Ono Hachiman Shrine in Jinsekikogen, Hiroshima Prefecture, cleans the shrine’s hall of worship.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Aug 17, 2026
Shrinking Hiroshima community keeps ties alive with festivals and newsletters
For residents in the district of Ono in the highlands of Jinsekikogen, festivals and newsletters give those who have left a reason to come back, if only for a visit.
At the Akita Kanto Festival held in the city of Akita this week, city officials with bear repellent sprays are patrolling the area around the festival venue.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 5, 2026
Organizers of summer festivals in Tohoku strengthen measures against bears
While protocols vary across prefectures, several organizers say events may be canceled if a bear is spotted within a certain distance of the festival venue.
The finale of the Saga Joka Sakae no Kuni Matsuri festival in the city of Saga on May 24
JAPAN / Society
Jul 15, 2026
Organizers reschedule summer events to dodge extreme heat and heavy rain
Summer festivals and fireworks shows that used to be held in July or August have either been brought forward or pushed back.
It&#039;s not unheard of for summer temperatures in Kumagaya to reached over 40 degrees Celsius, but the Uchiwa Festival goes on regardless.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 14, 2026
Surviving the Uchiwa Festival, 91AV原创 hottest ‘matsuri’
Temperatures in Kumagaya, home of the raucous Uchiwa Festival, often top 40 degrees Celsius.
For one April Sunday each year, the otherwise working class city of Kawasaki becomes host to one of Japan&#039;s most unusual-looking festivals.
LIFE / Travel
May 23, 2026
At Kawasaki’s ‘penis festival,’ phalluses are vessels of compassion
The event ‘may look weird,’ says a priestess of Kanayama Shrine, but its origins and purpose point to a deeper meaning.
Devotees walk on a forest path as they carry a portable shrine holding a deity back to the Musashi Mitake Shrine on the second day of the two-day Hinode Sai, or Sunrise Festival, in Ome, Tokyo, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2026
Mountain festival marks spring arrival high above Tokyo
The Hinode Sai, or Sunrise Festival, is believed to have started when wandering ascetics climbed Mount Mitake in search of enlightenment.
The main lantern attracts visitors to the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi on March 3.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 5, 2026
Lantern festival host city showcases Taiwan-Japan history and culture
Taiwan has preserved many colonial-era buildings, breathing new life into them, backed by the recent “retro” trend among young people.
The Yamatsumi Shrine festival is held once again in the village of Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, in December.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2026
Major shrine festival back in Fukushima village
It had not been unusual for Yamatsumi Shrine, one of rare Shinto shrines dedicated to wolves, to be flooded with people and stalls during its annual festival before 3/11.
The Murakami Festival, held in the city of Murakami, Niigata Prefecture, has been added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list along with five other items from Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2025
Six Japanese items added to UNESCO intangible heritage list
Four of the six new items will be registered under the category of “Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals in Japan.”
Young people from Okinawa in the Kansai region dance during the first Eisa festival in Osaka’s Taisho Ward in September 1975.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Oct 20, 2025
Taking pride in its Okinawan roots, Osaka’s Eisa festival marks 50th year
The festival celebrating the traditional Okinawan summer dance was created for young workers to resist discrimination and reclaim pride in their roots.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Aug 28, 2025
In pictures: Koenji Awa Odori 2025
At Koenji Awa Odori, performers and crowds blur together in sound, sweat and laughter — a summer festival that thrives on shared energy and joy.
Francisco Villarreal moved to Japan in 2014 to attend a teacher training program and has forged deep ties to the kindergarten in Tokyo's Asakusa district where he has worked since 2018.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Aug 11, 2025
Kindred spirits, kindergarten connections: From Buenos Aires to east Tokyo
An Argentinian teacher finds echoes of his hometown in the working-class neighborhoods of eastern Tokyo.
A man takes part in Tokyo’s Sanja Matsuri by helping to carry a "mikoshi" (portable shrine). Many Japanese festivals are open to foreign residents and tourists to participate in.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 19, 2025
Dancers, festivals and one very useful Japanese grammar point
From Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri to Tokyo’s Sumida fireworks, 91AV原创 summer festivals offer history, spectacle — and a chance to learn some vocabulary.
Tatsumi Onose (right), who plays the part of Commodore Matthew Perry in Shimoda's Black Ship Festival, says the historical episode the event is based on should be remembered for its positives more than its negatives.
LIFE / Travel
May 8, 2025
Celebrating 91AV原创 defeat at Shimoda’s Black Ship Festival
Held this year from May 16 to 18, an event to the south of Tokyo turns a historical episode of national humiliation into a plain old good time.

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