Festivals, exhibitions, pop-ups, and seasonal happenings across all nine regions.
Nanao's festival honors samurai heritage through a dramatic parade of locals dressed in full armor and helmets, accompanied by traditional music and dance performances.
20 Sep 2026Ishikawa · ChubuThe Johana Mugiya Festival celebrates Mugiya-bushi, a historic folk song and dance rooted in Gokayama's rural heritage, with costumed dancers and traditional instruments.
20 Sep 2026Toyama · ChubuTwo days in September when more than fifty groups bring out the performing arts of Tono in Iwate, with a mass deer dance and horseback archery at the shrine.
19–20 Sep 2026Iwate · TohokuOne of Japan's most dynamic float festivals with a 300-year history, known for its signature yarimawashi maneuver where massive floats are swung around corners.
18–20 Sep 2026Osaka · KansaiThis over 650-year-old festival in a northern mountain town expresses gratitude for the harvest while praying for protection from disaster and the arrival of good fortune.
17–20 Sep 2026Iwate · TohokuAround thirty lion carts and twelve tiered floats fill central Ishioka for three days each September, at one of the three great festivals of the Kanto region.
19–21 Sep 2026Ibaraki · KantoOne of Japan's largest jazz events transforms Kanazawa's historic streets, shrines, and public spaces into stages for world-class musicians each September.
19–21 Sep 2026Ishikawa · ChubuThe Gokayama Mugiya Festival features Mugiya-bushi, a folk song and dance tradition rooted in the Heike clan, designated as Japan's Intangible Folk Cultural Property.
23 Sep 2026Toyama · ChubuThe 'Naked Festival' features mikoshi carried into the sea, a boisterous parade through town, and shrines tossed high against fireworks and songs of joy.
23–24 Sep 2026Chiba · KantoStreets fill with folk songs, dances, and lion performances, culminating in a communal circle dance accompanied by the rhythmic playing of a bamboo whisk instrument.
25–26 Sep 2026Toyama · ChubuTanabe in Wakayama holds a two-day festival for Benkei, the warrior monk it claims as its own, with a play at the shrine and 600 dancers in wooden clogs.
2–3 Oct 2026Wakayama · KansaiEach October in Gobo, Wakayama, the region's largest autumn festival fills the streets with rival parish groups, dance, and towering, massive drum floats.
4–5 Oct 2026Wakayama · KansaiAncient shrine festival featuring portable shrines carried through Matsuyama's districts in ritual performances believed to enhance spiritual power.
5–7 Oct 2026Ehime · ShikokuThis 380-year-old shrine festival blends Japanese folk dances with dragon processions and Dutch-influenced performances held across four venues in Nagasaki.
7–9 Oct 2026Nagasaki · KyushuAn autumn festival held in October with origins tracing to a 1608 rainmaking ritual, featuring 27 ornately carved musical floats from the Edo period.
10–11 Oct 2026Tochigi · KantoEach October the old castle town of Sakura fills with towering doll floats, portable shrines and Edo-descended music for three days of procession.
9–11 Oct 2026Chiba · KantoAn autumn parade brings the Warring States period to life with over 250 participants in samurai and historical costumes, honoring the Sanada clan.
10–11 Oct 2026Nagano · ChubuAn October festival features a grand procession with a portable shrine led by samurai-clad participants, with local residents bowing in reverence along the streets.
15 Oct 2026Okayama · Chugoku
