Home

Destinations

Shinto

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

All Events Places

Festival

Himeji Castle Festival

Three-day festival featuring outdoor Noh theatre performances, classical arts, historical pageantry, and family activities across Himeji Castle grounds.

22–24 May 2027Hyogo · Kansai

Festival

Sanno Festival

Centered at Hie Shrine, this major Toyama festival originated in the Edo period and features a two-day mikoshi procession through the city's parishes.

31 May – 2 Jun 2027Toyama · Chubu

Festival

Fussa Firefly Festival

This festival celebrates Genji fireflies raised by local residents, which can be seen flying near Hotaru Park and along a historic canal in the early summer night.

All Events Places

Festival

Himeji Castle Festival

Three-day festival featuring outdoor Noh theatre performances, classical arts, historical pageantry, and family activities across Himeji Castle grounds.

22–24 May 2027Hyogo · Kansai

Festival

Sanno Festival

Centered at Hie Shrine, this major Toyama festival originated in the Edo period and features a two-day mikoshi procession through the city's parishes.

31 May – 2 Jun 2027Toyama · Chubu

Festival

Fussa Firefly Festival

This festival celebrates Genji fireflies raised by local residents, which can be seen flying near Hotaru Park and along a historic canal in the early summer night.

31 May 2027

Tokyo · Kanto

Festival

Lily festival

A scenic park showcases 150,000 lilies in bloom each June, transforming into an illuminated landscape as evening falls.

1–30 Jun 2027Fukui · Chubu

Festival

Tsuzawa Yotaka Andon Festival

Traditional lantern festival in Toyama Prefecture featuring 7-meter-high floats decorated with warrior illustrations that collide in ritualized clashes accompanied by taiko drumming.

5–6 Jun 2027Toyama · Chubu

Festival

Kanazawa Hyakumangoku Festival

Kanazawa's Hyakumangoku Festival honours Lord Maeda Toshiie, whose 1583 entry into the castle established the city, and has grown into a prominent regional cultural event.

5–7 Jun 2027Ishikawa · Chubu

Festival

Shirone Giant Kite Battle

Tracing its roots to an Edo-period crop dispute, this kite battle showcases traditional craftsmanship as teams compete with specially designed flying kites.

5–9 Jun 2027Niigata · Chubu

Festival

Nagano Gion Festival

The Nagano Gion Festival celebrates Susanoo-no-Mikoto, the deity of storms and protection, through mikoshi processions at Yasaka Shrine near historic Zenkoji temple.

6 Jun 2027Nagano · Chubu

Festival

Tokyo Pride 2025

Major LGBTQ+ celebration and parade held in June at Yoyogi Park, attracting record numbers of supporters from domestic and international companies.

6–22 Jun 2027Tokyo · Kanto

Festival

Sanno Matsuri

Sanno Matsuri, held annually in June at Hie Shrine, ranks among Japan's three great festivals and was historically viewed by Tokugawa shoguns, earning the title Festival of the Realm.

7–17 Jun 2027Tokyo · Kanto

Festival

YOSAKOI Soran Festival

YOSAKOI Soran Festival blends Hokkaido's Soran Bushi folk song with dance and hand-held clappers, drawing hundreds of teams and millions of spectators to Sapporo each June.

10–14 Jun 2027Hokkaido · Hokkaido

Festival

Tonami Yotaka Festival

This traditional harvest festival features elaborate red lanterns exceeding 6 metres tall that collide in a dramatic ritual called tsukiawase, accompanied by taiko drums.

12–13 Jun 2027Toyama · Chubu

Festival

Chagu Chagu Umakko Festival

Chagu Chagu Umakko Festival, held in June in Iwate Prefecture, honors working horses through decoration, reflecting the region's heritage as a center for horse breeding and agriculture.

14 Jun 2027Iwate · Tohoku

Festival

Kawasaki Sanno Festival

A week-long festival in central Kawasaki where two great mikoshi act out a divine marriage, pregnancy, and birth across the city's streets.

19–21 Jun 2027Kanagawa · Kanto

Festival

CITTA' Festival

A shopping complex's summer event now aligns with the Sanno Shrine Festival, featuring portable shrine processions and sacred rites amid Mediterranean streets and food stalls.

19–21 Jun 2027Kanagawa · Kanto

Festival

Himeji Yukata Festival

A festival spanning over 260 years celebrates its origins in 1742 when commoners were permitted to attend a shrine ceremony in summer kimono.

20–21 Jun 2027Hyogo · Kansai

Festival

Aizen Festival

A 1,400-year-old temple festival honors a Buddhist deity associated with love and good fortune through public celebrations and sacred displays.

30 Jun – 2 Jul 2027Osaka · Kansai

Festival

Hakata Gion Yamakasa

Teams parade towering floats through Fukuoka in this seven-century-old festival, competing to navigate the course fastest while traditional music and crowds fill the streets.

1–15 Jul 2027Fukuoka · Kyushu