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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.

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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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All Events Places

Festival

Bizen Pottery Festival

This pottery festival in Japan's Heritage-certified Bizen production area offers visitors the chance to buy ware and try their hand at the potter's wheel.

18–19 Oct 2026Okayama · Chugoku

Festival

Jidai Festival

Kyoto's signature historical reenactment features costumed processions of figures from different Japanese eras traveling from the Imperial Palace to the Heian Shrine.

22 Oct 2026Kyoto · Kansai

Festival

Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Festival

A large Halloween cosplay festival centered on Ikebukuro's East Exit features stage performances, parades, and gathering spaces for participants of all ages.

All Events Places

Festival

Bizen Pottery Festival

This pottery festival in Japan's Heritage-certified Bizen production area offers visitors the chance to buy ware and try their hand at the potter's wheel.

18–19 Oct 2026Okayama · Chugoku

Festival

Jidai Festival

Kyoto's signature historical reenactment features costumed processions of figures from different Japanese eras traveling from the Imperial Palace to the Heian Shrine.

22 Oct 2026Kyoto · Kansai

Festival

Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Festival

A large Halloween cosplay festival centered on Ikebukuro's East Exit features stage performances, parades, and gathering spaces for participants of all ages.

24–26 Oct 2026

Tokyo · Kanto

Festival

Miyazaki Jingu Grand Festival

Miyazaki's largest celebration honors Emperor Jimmu through a grand autumn procession featuring portable shrines and floats reenacting the legendary emperor's historic journey.

26 Oct 2026Miyazaki · Kyushu

Festival

Tochigi Float Festival

Tochigi's festival showcases elaborate floats created by neighborhoods, a tradition that flourished in the late 19th century when districts commissioned their own artistic dashi.

1–3 Nov 2026Tochigi · Kanto

Festival

Ube Festival

An annual festival celebrating Ube City with parades featuring the Nanban Ondo dance, a contemporary adaptation of traditional mining work songs.

2 Nov 2026Yamaguchi · Chugoku

Festival

Ohara Festival

Mass dancing in vibrant costumes and powerful taiko drumming celebrate Kagoshima's regional identity in this southern Kyushu autumn festival.

2–3 Nov 2026Kagoshima · Kyushu

Festival

Okawakami Birafu Shrine Autumn Grand Festival

Featuring an Intangible Folk Cultural Property procession, this November festival unites a community through ceremony, dance, and spiritual communion.

3 Nov 2026Kochi · Shikoku

Festival

Fox's Wedding - Rice Ear Festival

The Fox's Wedding features a grand procession with white fox bride and groom, rooted in a legend of benevolent spirits said to bring marriage blessings.

3 Nov 2026Yamaguchi · Chugoku

Festival

Oyama Balloon Festival

The Oyama Balloon Festa fills autumn skies with hot air balloons competing in precision flights from dawn, and features illuminated night glows with synchronized fireworks and music.

8–9 Nov 2026Tochigi · Kanto

Festival

Sengoku Chronicle: The Battle of Kawanakajima

Participatory reenactment of a legendary Sengoku-era battle where visitors don authentic armor and join either the Takeda or Uesugi army on the battlefield.

9 Nov 2026Yamanashi · Chubu

Festival

Kaki festival

Persimmons harvested from a shrine tree are distributed among parishioners as part of this harvest celebration.

14 Nov 2026Ishikawa · Chubu

Festival

Kurakake Castle Festival

A castle festival features an armored warrior procession, parades, and traditional performances including taiko drumming and Shinto kagura dance.

16 Nov 2026Yamaguchi · Chugoku

Festival

Wajima Crab Festival

Wajima Marine Town celebrates fresh seafood and local specialties with market stalls, performances, and free crab soup each November.

23 Nov 2026Ishikawa · Chubu

Festival

Hofu Tenmangu Gojinko-sai Festival (Naked Monk Festival)

This festival honors Tenjin, a tenth-century poet and administrator deified for his integrity, through a ritual dating back over a thousand years.

28 Nov 2026Yamaguchi · Chugoku

Festival

Chichibu Night Festival

An annual festival in Saitama featuring six ornate floats illuminated by thousands of lanterns, along with fireworks and traditional performances.

2–3 Dec 2026Saitama · Kanto

Festival

Zao Juhyo Festival

The Zao Juhyo Festival showcases Snow Monsters, ethereal ice and snow formations that coat trees in the Zao Mountains, illuminated after dark to create a surreal winter landscape.

27 Dec 2026 – 23 Feb 2027Yamagata · Tohoku

Festival

Motsu-ji Temple Hatsukayasai Festival

The final day of this week-long Buddhist observance at a UNESCO World Heritage temple features torchlit processions and prayers for good fortune.

14–20 Jan 2027Iwate · Tohoku

Shrine

Kotohira-gū

A shrine devoted to the protection of sailors and sea transport, requiring a climb of 785 steps to the main shrine on Mount Zōzu.

Kotohira · Kagawa

Shrine

Kushida Shrine

A Shinto shrine in Fukuoka dating to the 8th century, renowned for hosting the annual Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival in July with decorated floats.

Fukuoka

Shrine

Isaniwa Shrine

A Shinto shrine in Matsuyama with roots in a visit by Emperor Chuai and Empress Jingu to Dogo Onsen, enshrining multiple emperors as cultural treasures.

Matsuyama · Ehime

Shrine

Yūtoku Inari Shrine

One of Japan's three most famous Inari shrines, dedicated to the god of agriculture and prosperity, known for vermilion torii gates and statues.

Kashima · Saga

Shrine

Toyosaka Shrine

Yamaguchi shrine dedicated to Mōri Motonari, the Sengoku-period warlord who unified the Chūgoku region and established the powerful Mōri clan.

Yamaguchi

Shrine

Shizuoka Sengen Shrine

Shinto shrine in Shizuoka City dedicated to Mount Fuji's guardian deity, revered as one of the region's most important sanctuaries.

Shizuoka

Shrine

Unedori Shrine

Rural Tono shrine associated with love and connection, where visitors tie wishes on red cloth strips using only their non-dominant hand.

Tono · Iwate

Shrine

Osaki Shrine

Shinto shrine enshrining two deities of abundance and protection, with a documented history spanning more than 1,500 years.

Moka · Tochigi

Shrine

Okutsuhime Shrine

Okutsuhime Shrine on remote Hegurajima island was founded by traditional female divers and preserves centuries of maritime worship traditions.

Wajima · Ishikawa

Shrine

Takebe Shrine

Takebe Shrine in Otsu enshrines Yamato Takeru and Onamuchi and served as the principal shrine of the ancient Ōmi Province.

Otsu · Shiga

Shrine

Hie Shrine

Hie Shrine in Tokyo's Nagatachō district dates to the Kamakura period and served as guardian deity of Edo Castle and the Imperial Palace.

Tokyo

Shrine

Sasayama Shrine

Sasayama Shrine, dedicated to the god of martial arts and war, sits within Kurume Castle in Fukuoka with a main hall in traditional Edo period style.

Fukuoka

Shrine

Taga-taisha

Taga Taisha enshrines Izanami and Izanagi and appears in Japan's oldest chronicles from 712 AD; its gardens are designated a nationally recognized Place of Scenic Beauty.

Taga · Shiga

Shrine

Ashikaga Orihime Shrine

Shrine dedicated to weaving deities symbolizing romantic union, featuring reinforced concrete architecture from 1937 and four National Tangible Cultural Properties.

Ashikaga · Tochigi

Shrine

Yasaka Jinja Shrine

A Kyoto shrine tracing its origins to 656, dedicated to Susanoo-no-mikoto and his consort, with its main hall designated a National Treasure in 2020.

Kyoto

Shrine

Senso-ji Temple

One of Tokyo's oldest temples dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon since the 7th century, Senso-ji features the iconic Kaminarimon gate and bustling Nakamise-dori shopping street.

Tokyo

Shrine

Chinzei Grand Shrine Suwa Shrine

This Nagasaki shrine dedicated to the sea god offers traditional architecture, serene gardens, and hosts an annual August festival honoring maritime heritage.

Nagasaki

Shrine

Sugo Isobe Shrine

This Kaga shrine traces its origins to 585 when an imperial kami was transferred to the site, rising to prominence as one of the region's most historically significant sanctuaries.

Kaga · Ishikawa