Home

Destinations

Japanese Festivals

The newsletter

Never miss what's on

The month's best festivals, exhibitions, and pop-ups in Japan, in one email. Free, monthly.

Free when you joinThe First-Timer's Japan Guide, our 16-page PDF, in your welcome email.

Free when you join

The First-Timer's Japan Guide16-page PDF, in your welcome email.

The First-Timer's Japan Guide

Guides, places, and what's on across Japan, written at street level.

Explore

Events
Places
Stories
Guides
Topics

Specials

Quiz
Year in Japan
Japan in Numbers

Community

Plan a trip
Log in
Sign up

Legal notice
Privacy & Terms
Credits
掲載のご案内
RSS

Festival

Nagano Binzuru

The Nagano Binzuru Dance Festival draws over 10,000 participants in coordinated yukata processions through closed-off city streets in a fully participatory summer celebration.

2 Aug 2027Nagano · Chubu

Festival

The Aomori Nebuta Festival

Aomori's most iconic summer festival features glowing nebuta floats and energetic haneto dancers who leap through illuminated parades and water processions.

2–7 Aug 2027Aomori · Tohoku

Festival

Akita Kanto

A summer harvest festival features towering bamboo poles adorned with paper lanterns, paraded through streets with traditional music and daytime balancing performances.

Festival

Nagano Binzuru

The Nagano Binzuru Dance Festival draws over 10,000 participants in coordinated yukata processions through closed-off city streets in a fully participatory summer celebration.

2 Aug 2027Nagano · Chubu

Festival

The Aomori Nebuta Festival

Aomori's most iconic summer festival features glowing nebuta floats and energetic haneto dancers who leap through illuminated parades and water processions.

2–7 Aug 2027Aomori · Tohoku

Festival

Akita Kanto

A summer harvest festival features towering bamboo poles adorned with paper lanterns, paraded through streets with traditional music and daytime balancing performances.

3–6 Aug 2027

Akita · Tohoku

Festival

Goshogawara Tachineputa Festival

The 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 2027Aomori · Tohoku

Festival

Yaegaki Shrine Gion Festival

Every 4–5 August, ten neighbourhoods of Yokaichiba send mikoshi through the streets while crowds throw water over them. A Chiba festival nearly 500 years old.

4–5 Aug 2027Chiba · Kanto

Festival

Yamagata Hanagasa Festival

The 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 2027Yamagata · Tohoku

Festival

Sendai Tanabata Festival

Held 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 2027Miyagi · Tohoku

Festival

Kiryu Yagibushi Festival

The Kiryu Yagibushi Festival is a lively summer event held each August in Kiryu City, centred on Yagibushi folk song and dance, with street parades, live music, and cultural programmes.

7–9 Aug 2027Gunma · Kanto

Festival

Fussa Tanabata Festival

One of western Tokyo's biggest summer festivals, where Japan's Tanabata star festival meets American base-town culture in a street of dazzling decorations.

7–9 Aug 2027Tokyo · Kanto

Festival

Suhoteisai Festival

A rare Yamaguchi ritual festival said to date back over 1,800 years, with seven nights of dances around the Oni-ishi stone, towering banners, and lantern-topped poles.

7–13 Aug 2027Yamaguchi · Chugoku

Festival

Jantokoi Uozu Festival

Uozu's biggest summer event, the Jantokoi Uozu Festival brings UNESCO-listed Tatemon floats, folk dance, seaside fireworks, and jazz.

7–9 Aug 2027Toyama · Chubu

Festival

Ryotsu Tanabata Matsuri and Kawabiraki

A summer festival on Sado Island blending the Tanabata star festival with the ceremonial opening of Ryotsu Port, featuring parades, folk dance, and a fireworks finale.

7–8 Aug 2027Niigata · Chubu

Festival

Yosakoi Festival

Every August, Kochi erupts into dance: thousands of performers surging through the streets with clacking naruko, in a carnival that reinvents itself year after year.

9–12 Aug 2027Kochi · Shikoku

Festival

Awa Odori Festival

Japan's most famous traditional dance festival, held annually in Tokushima City, where dancers form groups with distinctive choreography and costumes.

12–15 Aug 2027Tokushima · Shikoku

Festival

Yanai Goldfish Lantern Festival

A summer festival where 4,000 decorated goldfish lanterns cast a spellbinding glow over the town, alongside a spirited Goldfish Nebuta procession.

13 Aug 2027Yamaguchi · Chugoku

Festival

Shiraishi-odori Dance

A traditional Bon dance performed on Shiraishi Island honours historical battle casualties through a unique ensemble format where multiple dances synchronize to a lead.

13–16 Aug 2027Okayama · Chugoku

Festival

Fukagawa Matsuri

One of Tokyo's three greatest Shinto festivals, this mid-August celebration centers on water-splashing processions with portable shrines through the city.

15 Aug 2027Tokyo · Kanto

Festival

Aodake Chochin Festival (Green Bamboo Lantern Festival)

A summer festival transforms a town with illuminated green bamboo lanterns, folk performances, and fireworks over Takahata.

16 Aug 2027Yamagata · Tohoku