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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.

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Festival

Camellia Festival

A spring celebration in Nonoichi showcases the camellia, the city's flower, through exhibitions of art, markets, and traditional tea ceremonies.

21–22 Mar 2027Ishikawa · Chubu

Festival

Hifuri Shinji Fire Swinging Ritual

Each spring at Aso Shrine, priests perform the Hifuri Shinji fire-swinging ritual, a mesmerizing ceremony rooted in ancient agricultural tradition.

23 Mar 2027Kumamoto · Kyushu

Festival

Shingen-ko Festival

A historical reenactment festival in Kofu honors a 16th-century feudal lord with a large-scale procession featuring over 1,000 participants in period armor.

Festival

Camellia Festival

A spring celebration in Nonoichi showcases the camellia, the city's flower, through exhibitions of art, markets, and traditional tea ceremonies.

21–22 Mar 2027Ishikawa · Chubu

Festival

Hifuri Shinji Fire Swinging Ritual

Each spring at Aso Shrine, priests perform the Hifuri Shinji fire-swinging ritual, a mesmerizing ceremony rooted in ancient agricultural tradition.

23 Mar 2027Kumamoto · Kyushu

Festival

Shingen-ko Festival

A historical reenactment festival in Kofu honors a 16th-century feudal lord with a large-scale procession featuring over 1,000 participants in period armor.

3–5 Apr 2027

Yamanashi · Chubu

Festival

Ogimachi Sakura Festival

A cherry blossom festival in Osaka features night illuminations and LED lantern releases alongside traditional Japanese instrument performances.

3–5 Apr 2027Osaka · Kansai

Festival

The Hida Living Hina Doll Festival

The Hina Matsuri doll festival blends with regional silk-industry heritage in a celebration held a month after the national holiday to account for late mountain spring.

3 Apr 2027Gifu · Chubu

Festival

All Japan Chindon Contest

Japan's only national competition for chindon performers, a traditional street performance art that emerged in the 19th century to promote shop openings through music and costumes.

3–5 Apr 2027Toyama · Chubu

Festival

Inuyama Festival

Historic shrine festival featuring thirteen elaborate floats equipped with mechanical puppets performing traditional ceremonies on the first weekend of April.

4–5 Apr 2027Aichi · Chubu

Festival

Kanamara Matsuri "Festival of the Steel Phallus"

An annual Shinto festival at Kanayama Shrine in Kawasaki featuring distinctive phallic imagery in decorations and parades while raising funds for HIV research.

5 Apr 2027Kanagawa · Kanto

Festival

40th Jozankei Onsen Keiryu Koinobori

Jozankei's 40-year-old spring tradition celebrates through approximately 400 carp streamers suspended above the hot spring town, repurposed from donated family heirlooms.

10 Apr – 10 May 2027Hokkaido · Hokkaido

Festival

Bunsui Geisha Parade

A spring parade in Niigata features courtesans in Edo-period dress and 70 followers moving gracefully among blooming cherry blossom trees.

12 Apr 2027Niigata · Chubu

Festival

Sanno Festival

Seven portable shrines and demon-drum performances highlight this Sado festival, jointly conducted by six local communities as part of traditions spanning over 800 years.

12–14 Apr 2027Niigata · Chubu

Festival

Kumano Hongu Taisha Grand Festival (Reitaisai)

Each April, Kumano Hongu Taisha holds its Reitaisai – three days of purification rites, beautiful sacred dance performances, and a grand palanquin procession.

13–15 Apr 2027Wakayama · Kansai

Festival

Sosha Shrine Annual Festival Eve Kyogen Performance

Sagiryu Kyogen, a rare traditional comic theatre form from only three locations in Japan, is performed during this festival eve by preservation groups and local students.

14 Apr 2027Niigata · Chubu

Festival

The Spring Takayama Festival

A spring festival in Takayama showcases ornate floats with mechanical dolls and centuries-old craftsmanship, illuminated by lanterns during evening processions.

14–15 Apr 2027Gifu · Chubu

Festival

Marumage Festival

An annual festival in Himi centers on Senju-ji Temple, where unmarried women pray for happiness using a traditional married woman's hairstyle in ritual.

17 Apr 2027Toyama · Chubu

Festival

Otawara Yatai Festival

A spring festival dating to the Edo period features nine elaborately decorated floats paraded through city streets accompanied by traditional music.

18–19 Apr 2027Tochigi · Kanto

Festival

Ishioka Spring Shishi Festival

Ishioka's spring celebration showcases lion dance culture through performances by neighborhood groups, competitions across age categories, and food vendors and carnival games.

29 Apr 2027Ibaraki · Kanto

Festival

The Yonezawa Uesugi Matsuri

The Yonezawa Uesugi Matsuri features a multi-day celebration culminating in a reenactment of the 1561 Battle of Kawanakajima between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen.

29 Apr – 3 May 2027Yamagata · Tohoku