
UFO Festival
A town in Fukushima that calls itself the UFO village closes its shopping street for an alien costume parade, with prizes for the most convincing.
Fukushima · 31 Oct 2026

A town in Fukushima that calls itself the UFO village closes its shopping street for an alien costume parade, with prizes for the most convincing.
Fukushima · 31 Oct 2026
A gorge in Miyagi cut a hundred metres deep by the Otani River, walled with pale rock and walked by riverside paths from spring to late autumn.
Osaki
Footraces run in inflatable T-rex costumes, held in parks, on beaches and at local festivals across Japan since 2022, with adult and juvenile classes.
Rikuzentakata · 15 Nov 2026
Seven old farmhouses of the Nanbu type moved to a valley in Iwate and kept as a working village, with horses, paddies and a water mill.
Tono
A town in Fukushima that calls itself the UFO village closes its shopping street for an alien costume parade, with prizes for the most convincing.
31 Oct 2026FukushimaFootraces run in inflatable T-rex costumes, held in parks, on beaches and at local festivals across Japan since 2022, with adult and juvenile classes.
15 Nov 2026Rikuzentakata · IwateA German-style Christmas market in central Sendai, with wooden huts shipped from Germany, mulled wine, a tall Christmas tree and concerts on winter evenings.
4–25 Dec 2026Sendai · MiyagiThe final day of this week-long Buddhist observance at a UNESCO World Heritage temple features torchlit processions and prayers for good fortune.
14–20 Jan 2027Exact date not confirmed yetHiraizumi · IwateAn annual winter ritual in Sendai features the ceremonial burning of New Year decorations followed by a sacred pilgrimage procession in traditional attire.
14 Jan 2027Exact date not confirmed yetSendai · MiyagiThe Hirosaki Castle Yuki-Doro Festival fills the castle park with illuminated snow lanterns, dome-shaped kamakura huts and intricate sculptures.
6–11 Feb 2027Exact date not confirmed yetHirosaki · AomoriAn Edo-period festival in Kaminoyama where performers in bird-shaped straw costumes parade through town as spectators splash them with water for good fortune.
11 Feb 2027Exact date not confirmed yetKaminoyama · YamagataMen of unlucky ages run through icy waters in this harsh February ritual that has cleansed misfortune since the devastating Edo-period Great Fire.
11 Feb 2027Exact date not confirmed yetIchinoseki · IwateThe Namahage Sedo Festival recreates the winter tradition of demon-like Namahage visiting shrines and homes, known as one of Japan's three strangest festivals.
13–15 Feb 2027Exact date not confirmed yetOga · AkitaA two-day winter festival in snowy Yonezawa transforming Matsugasaki Park into a landscape of 300 snow lanterns and 3,000 snow lamps lit by candlelight.
14–15 Feb 2027Exact date not confirmed yetYonezawa · YamagataHistoric winter celebration over 800 years old marking the end of the cold season with traditional performances and prayers for a bountiful rice harvest.
17–20 Feb 2027Hachinohe · AomoriA Fukushima winter festival in which volunteer bearers carry Japan's largest straw sandal, 12 metres long and made in an Edo-period tradition, through the city.
21–22 Feb 2027Exact date not confirmed yetFukushimaAll JR East lines including shinkansen, plus the Tokyo Monorail and through trains to Nikko, for 5 or 10 days
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Mountain forest park in Miyagi with over 100 free-roaming foxes of six species, where visitors can watch and feed them, alongside other animals.
Shiroishi · MiyagiA nostalgic Taisho-era hot-spring town in the Yamagata mountains, lined with wooden inns along a gas-lit river - at its most magical under snow.
Obanazawa · YamagataThe lowest of the three mountains of Dewa in Yamagata, climbed by a stone stair through old cedars, with a five-storey pagoda that is a National Treasure.
Tsuruoka · YamagataMausoleum of Masamune Date, the founder of Sendai Domain, situated near Sendai Castle and part of a designated historic Date Family Cemetery.
Sendai · MiyagiFortress without a traditional keep, reflecting Tokugawa political order and built as a luxurious residential palace to demonstrate authority and wealth.
Sendai · MiyagiCastle ruins built in 1597 at a strategic river confluence, serving as a northern sentinel monitoring trade routes for over 700 years.
Morioka · IwateThis Pure Land Buddhist temple in Sendai houses a rare sacred scroll of Amida Buddha that is unveiled only five times each year.
Sendai · MiyagiJapan's largest Jomon settlement, spread over 40 hectares, with a reconstructed six-pillared structure from around 2600 BC; a UNESCO World Heritage site.
AomoriUesugi Shrine in Yonezawa honors the formidable warlord Uesugi Kenshin and was rebuilt in 1923 following a destructive fire.
Yonezawa · YamagataWooden stadium completed in 1997 with a roof made from 25,000 Akita cypress trees allowing sunlight without artificial lighting.
Odate · AkitaBuilt in 1991, this 100-meter statue depicts White-Robed Kannon and commemorates Sendai's city centennial, symbolizing compassion and Buddhist enlightenment.
Sendai · MiyagiThis Sendai shrine has served as a center of devotion for over a thousand years, enshrining the divine family of Izanagi, Izanami, and their child Ebisu.
Sendai · Miyagi
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