Matsuri: Traditional Japanese Festivals

Festival

Utasu Jinja Shrine Setsubun Festival

The Utasu Jinja Shrine Setsubun Festival marks the seasonal transition through purification rituals and Mamemaki, the traditional ceremony of throwing roasted soybeans.

3 Feb 2027Ishikawa · Chubu

Festival

The 77th Sapporo Snow Festival

Snow and ice sculptures crafted by the Japan Self-Defense Force and local artists fill three Sapporo sites for Japan's most celebrated winter festival.

4–11 Feb 2027Hokkaido · Hokkaido

Festival

Utasu Jinja Shrine Setsubun Festival

The Utasu Jinja Shrine Setsubun Festival marks the seasonal transition through purification rituals and Mamemaki, the traditional ceremony of throwing roasted soybeans.

3 Feb 2027Ishikawa · Chubu

Festival

The 77th Sapporo Snow Festival

Snow and ice sculptures crafted by the Japan Self-Defense Force and local artists fill three Sapporo sites for Japan's most celebrated winter festival.

4–11 Feb 2027Hokkaido · Hokkaido

Festival

Nagasaki Lantern Festival

The festival illuminates Nagasaki's streets with around 15,000 Chinese lanterns, some reaching 10 metres, celebrating Lunar New Year traditions.

6–23 Feb 2027

Nagasaki · Kyushu

Festival

Takewari Festival (Gogan Shinji)

An ancient Shinto ritual held on February 10 features young men in white ceremonial clothing splitting bamboo stalks to symbolize strength and readiness.

10 Feb 2027Ishikawa · Chubu

Festival

Atsukishinmei Festival

Fire-lit pillars adorned with sacred paper stand on beaches as the community performs ceremonial dances twice daily, seeking protection from illness and calamity.

11 Feb 2027Yamaguchi · Chugoku

Festival

Kasedori

This Edo-period Kasedori Festival features performers in bird-shaped straw costumes paraded through Kaminoyama while spectators splash water on them for good fortune.

11 Feb 2027Yamagata · Tohoku

Festival

Namahage Sedo Festival

A renowned winter festival recreates the Namahage tradition where demon-like figures visit shrines and homes, recognized as one of Japan's three strangest festivals.

13–15 Feb 2027Akita · Tohoku

Festival

Uesugi Snow Lantern Festival

A 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 2027Yamagata · Tohoku

Festival

The Sugita Plum Festival

A winter festival in Yokohama celebrates the legacy of a historic plum grove, with around 100 trees blooming at Myōhōji Temple, reviving centuries of tradition.

14–15 Feb 2027Kanagawa · Kanto

Festival

Hachinohe Enburi Festival

Historic 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 2027Aomori · Tohoku

Festival

Shiozawa Seppu Festival

A winter festival celebrates Edo-period scholar Bokushi Suzuki and the region's textile traditions with a 108-lantern Goma fire ceremony by mountain ascetics.

21 Feb 2027Niigata · Chubu

Festival

Mt. Shinobu Dawn Procession

This Fukushima winter festival features Japan's largest straw sandal, a 12-metre marvel crafted in an Edo-period tradition and carried by volunteer bearers through the city.

21–22 Feb 2027Fukushima · Tohoku

Festival

Saidai-ji Eyo Festival

At this over 500-year-old Okayama festival, men in loincloths compete for a wooden stick, with the victor becoming the 'Lucky Man' and receiving believed year-long blessings.

21 Feb 2027Okayama · Chugoku

Festival

Hadaka Matsuri

Historic purification festival where nearly-naked men engage in a spirited struggle to touch the selected Naoi-nin, symbolizing the cleansing of misfortune.

1 Mar 2027Aichi · Chubu

Festival

Urasa Bishamondō Naked Man Festival

A 1,200-year-old midwinter festival features bare-chested men competing to ascend to the temple and offer prayers to the protective deity Bishamonten.

7 Mar 2027Niigata · Chubu

Festival

Harvest Festival

A spring fertility rite centered on a symbolic wooden offering features portable shrine processions as communities pray for abundant harvests and prosperity of future generations.

15 Mar 2027Aichi · 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

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

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