Shinto in Japan | Hey Japan!

Shinto is an indigenous religion of Japan and the country's oldest religion, originating from prehistoric times. It is characterized by its focus on ancestor worship, nature worship, and the veneration of spirits known as kami. Shinto shrines, which are dedicated to the worship of kami, are scattered throughout Japan and are typically marked by a torii gate and other distinctive architectural features. Shinto has no written scripture, no formal creed, and no defined system of morality. Instead, its teachings and practices are passed down orally and through tradition.

Festival

Okawachiyama Furin (Wind Bell Festival)

A pottery village celebration in mid-July features handcrafted wind bells and illuminated lanterns that create a summer atmosphere.

15 Jun – 31 Aug 2026Saga · Kyushu

Festival

Gion Festival

A month-long Kyoto festival centered on Yasaka Jinja Shrine features sacred rituals, food stalls, illuminated floats, and culminates in a grand procession and parade.

1–31 Jul 2026Kyoto · Kansai

Festival

Summer Grand Festival

The Summer Grand Festival honours Onominato Shrine's deities with Kanazawa's largest mikoshi procession, traditional dances, and rituals from the 1600s.

Shinto is an indigenous religion of Japan and the country's oldest religion, originating from prehistoric times. It is characterized by its focus on ancestor worship, nature worship, and the veneration of spirits known as kami. Shinto shrines, which are dedicated to the worship of kami, are scattered throughout Japan and are typically marked by a torii gate and other distinctive architectural features. Shinto has no written scripture, no formal creed, and no defined system of morality. Instead, its teachings and practices are passed down orally and through tradition.

Festival

Okawachiyama Furin (Wind Bell Festival)

A pottery village celebration in mid-July features handcrafted wind bells and illuminated lanterns that create a summer atmosphere.

15 Jun – 31 Aug 2026Saga · Kyushu

Festival

Gion Festival

A month-long Kyoto festival centered on Yasaka Jinja Shrine features sacred rituals, food stalls, illuminated floats, and culminates in a grand procession and parade.

1–31 Jul 2026Kyoto · Kansai

Festival

Summer Grand Festival

The Summer Grand Festival honours Onominato Shrine's deities with Kanazawa's largest mikoshi procession, traditional dances, and rituals from the 1600s.

30 Jul – 2 Aug 2026

Ishikawa · Chubu

Festival

Kishu Odori "Bundara-bushi"

Kishu Odori Bundara-bushi, one of Wakayama's largest summer events, returns on 1 August, with thousands of dancers around Wakayama Castle.

31 Jul – 1 Aug 2026Wakayama · Kansai

Festival

The Hachinohe Sansha Taisai

Hachinohe Sansha Taisai combines traditional shrine processions with elaborately decorated floats and is recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

31 Jul – 4 Aug 2026Aomori · Tohoku

Festival

Furusato Miya Matsuri

This Utsunomiya summer festival brings residents together for parades, traditional performances, and displays of local culture.

1–2 Aug 2026Tochigi · Kanto

Festival

Morioka Sansa Odori Festival

Major summer dance festival originating from legend about a demon's defeat, featuring traditional Sansa Odori dance and powerful taiko performances.

1–4 Aug 2026Iwate · Tohoku

Festival

Tsuyama Gongo Festival

The Tsuyama Gongo Festival is a lively summer event in Tsuyama City featuring kappa-themed dances along Yakko-dori Street and one of Okayama's largest fireworks displays.

1–2 Aug 2026Okayama · Chugoku

Festival

Takaoka Tanabata Festival

A festival celebrating the legend of star-crossed lovers transforms the city with colorful bamboo displays, streamers, and a traditional parade.

1–8 Aug 2026Toyama · Chubu

Festival

Hirosaki Neputa Festival

The 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 2026Aomori · Tohoku

Festival

Issaki Hoto Festival

The Issaki Hōtō Festival features six massive illuminated lantern towers, each 10 meters tall, carried through the streets by teams in traditional festival attire.

1 Aug 2026Ishikawa · Chubu

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 2026Nagano · 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 2026Aomori · 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 2026Akita · 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 2026Aomori · Tohoku

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 2026Yamagata · 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 2026Miyagi · 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 2026Gunma · Kanto

Shrine

Keihin Fushimi Inari Shrine

A small, charming Inari shrine in Kawasaki, guarded by 108 stone foxes and ringed with Fuji lava – a postwar branch of Kyoto's Fushimi Inari.

Kawasaki · Kanagawa

Shrine

Itsukushima Shrine

The floating shrine of Miyajima, built out over a tidal cove, with its great vermilion torii standing in the sea off the sacred island.

Hatsukaichi · Hiroshima

Shrine

Motonosumi Shrine

A clifftop shrine on the Nagato coast where 123 red torii run down to the Sea of Japan, with an offering box perched high on the entrance gate.

Nagato · Yamaguchi

Shrine

Inage Shrine

A thousand-year-old shrine in central Kawasaki dedicated to victory and harmony, and home to the Kawasaki Sanno Festival.

Kawasaki · Kanagawa

Shrine

Hakone Shrine

Hakone Shrine, Motohakone, Hakone, Kanagawa, was founded in 757 on the shores of Lake Ashi and is known for its Heiwa no Torii, a red torii gate standing in the lake.

Hakone · Kanagawa

Shrine

Takeda Shrine

This shrine honors Takeda Shingen, a Sengoku-period general remembered for both military prowess and regional development in the domain he ruled.

Kofu · Yamanashi

Shrine

Kumano Taisha Shrine

One 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 · Yamagata

Shrine

Yoshida Shrine

Yoshida Shrine in Toyohashi, Aichi, dates to 1124, stood within Yoshida Castle under its lords, and is known as the birthplace of tezutsu hand-held fireworks.

Toyohashi · Aichi

Shrine

Akama Shrine

Shinto shrine honoring Antoku, an emperor who died during the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185, with a gate designed after the legendary underwater palace of the Dragon God.

Shimonoseki · Yamaguchi

Shrine

Maebashi Tōshō-gū

This shrine honors Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and first military leader of the Tokugawa Shogunate, and was established in 1624.

Maebashi · Gunma

Shrine

Tomioka Hachiman Shrine

Tokyo's largest Hachiman shrine, established in 1627, holds historical significance as the birthplace of Kanjin-zumō, a precursor to modern Grand Sumo.

Tokyo

Temple

Saijo Inari

Saijo Inari is a 1,200-year-old Buddhist temple and one of Japan's three great Inari sites, preserving a rare form of Shinto-Buddhist syncretic worship.

Okayama

Shrine

Bitchukoku Soja Shrine

Bitchukoku Soja Shrine consolidated deities of 324 provincial shrines into a single site dedicated to the deity of nation-building and good fortune.

Soja · Okayama

Shrine

Uesugi Shrine

Uesugi Shrine in Yonezawa honors the formidable warlord Uesugi Kenshin and was rebuilt in 1923 following a destructive fire.

Yonezawa · Yamagata

Shrine

Sendai Toshogu Shrine

Sendai Toshogu Shrine, established in 1654 to honor Tokugawa Ieyasu, stands out among Japan's Toshogu shrines for its scale and beauty.

Sendai · Miyagi

Shrine

Kitano Tenmangū

The head shrine of approximately 12,000 Tenmangū and Tenjin shrines throughout Japan, Kitano Tenmangū is dedicated to the deity of learning and culture.

Kyoto

Shrine

Juzo Shrine

Ishikawa shrine dedicated to Amenofuyukinu no Mikoto and his son Ōkuninushi, the Shinto god of nation-building and matchmaking, with subsidiary shrines on the grounds.

Wajima · Ishikawa

Shrine

Onominato Shrine

Shinto shrine dedicated to Hachiman Okami, Amaterasu Omikami the sun goddess, and Sarutahiko Okami the god of guidance, with smaller shrines on the precinct grounds.

Kanazawa · Ishikawa

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