Festival · Aomori · TohokuThe Hachinohe Sansha Taisai
Hachinohe · 31 Jul – 4 Aug 2026
Tohoku right now
2026/08/02Festival · Aomori · Tohoku
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Festival · Aomori · TohokuHachinohe · 31 Jul – 4 Aug 2026
04:3918:45Sendai
Reference rates · 2026/07/31
Hachinohe Sansha Taisai combines traditional shrine processions with elaborately decorated floats and is recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage.
31 Jul – 4 Aug 2026Hachinohe · AomoriMajor summer dance festival originating from legend about a demon's defeat, featuring traditional Sansa Odori dance and powerful taiko performances.
1–4 Aug 2026Morioka · IwateThe Hirosaki Neputa Festival features giant illuminated floats up to 10 meters tall, paraded nightly through the city with taiko drums and traditional chanting.
1–7 Aug 2026Hirosaki · AomoriAomori's most iconic summer festival features glowing nebuta floats and energetic haneto dancers who leap through illuminated parades and water processions.
2–7 Aug 2026AomoriA summer harvest festival features towering bamboo poles adorned with paper lanterns, paraded through streets with traditional music and daytime balancing performances.
3–6 Aug 2026AkitaThe Goshogawara Tachineputa Festival is an Aomori summer festival famous for its illuminated floats, some up to 23 metres tall, paraded nightly to taiko drums and flutes.
4–8 Aug 2026Goshogawara · AomoriThe Yamagata Hanagasa Festival is a major August event where over 10,000 dancers parade nightly with flower-decorated hanagasa hats to taiko drums and folk song.
5–7 Aug 2026YamagataHeld 6–8 August, the Sendai Tanabata Festival fills the city with vast colourful paper streamers and kusudama ornaments, rooted in the Tanabata legend.
6–8 Aug 2026Sendai · MiyagiA summer festival transforms a town with illuminated green bamboo lanterns, folk performances, and fireworks over Takahata.
16 Aug 2026Takahata · YamagataA festival with over 260 years of history, where 20 ornate floats themed on historical tales, legends, and kabuki parade through the streets with traditional music.
24–26 Aug 2026Shinjo · YamagataA traditional autumn festival with 400 years of history, held in September in Kakunodate, featuring large wooden floats decorated with samurai warrior dolls.
7–9 Sep 2026Semboku · AkitaThis centuries-old festival features over 100 mikoshi shrines and floats, with the Shishi-Odori deer dance and sacred Kagura-Gongenmai performance.
11–13 Sep 2026Hanamaki · IwateA 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 · YamagataAlso known as Tsuruga Castle, this 14th century Fukushima fortress was destroyed in the 1868 Boshin War and later reconstructed as a museum.
Aizuwakamatsu · FukushimaFortress without a traditional keep, reflecting Tokugawa political order and built as a luxurious residential palace to demonstrate authority and wealth.
Sendai · MiyagiAn ancient fortress built in 724 CE that served as the northern capital of the Yamato Empire and administrative center for Mutsu Province.
Tagajo · MiyagiCastle ruins built in 1597 at a strategic river confluence, serving as a northern sentinel monitoring trade routes for over 700 years.
Morioka · IwateA reconstructed fortress in Aomori Prefecture built in 1334 that controlled regional trade routes and served as a base for the Southern Court.
Hachinohe · AomoriA Japanese castle built in 1611 that remains the only surviving Edo-period castle keep in the entire Tohoku region, originally featuring a five-story tower.
Hirosaki · AomoriOne of three major Kumano shrines in Japan, Kumano Taisha was established in 806 and is known as the Ise Shrine of the North for its significance.
Nanyo · YamagataLake Tazawa, Semboku, Akita, is Japan's deepest lake at 423 meters, a caldera lake known for its clear blue waters and the golden statue of Tatsuko.
Semboku · AkitaHistoric post town restored to its Edo-period appearance with traditional thatched-roof houses lining its streets.
Shimogo · FukushimaThe Hakkodamaru, a ferry that served between Aomori and Hakodate, is now Japan's only accessible museum ferry, operated by a nonprofit since 2006.
AomoriThis Pure Land Buddhist temple in Sendai houses a rare sacred scroll of Amida Buddha that is unveiled only five times each year.
Sendai · Miyagi
