Shinto in Japan | Hey Japan!

Festival

Yoshino Baigo Plum Blossom Festival

A plum blossom festival in the region's premier plum village draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to view 25,000 trees, now celebrating a decade since their replanting.

21 Feb – 22 Mar 2027Tokyo · Kanto

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

Festival

Yoshino Baigo Plum Blossom Festival

A plum blossom festival in the region's premier plum village draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to view 25,000 trees, now celebrating a decade since their replanting.

21 Feb – 22 Mar 2027Tokyo · Kanto

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 2027

Aichi · Chubu

Festival

Starry Lantern Night

An evening celebration on the Rokuroshi Plateau in Fukui features LED sky lanterns against a backdrop of starry skies and fireworks.

7 Mar 2027Fukui · Chubu

Festival

Echigo Yukiwari Road

Spring's arrival is celebrated with delicate alpine flowers that bloom as snow melts across multiple scenic sites in the Echigo region.

7 Mar – 12 Apr 2027Niigata · 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

Niigata Sake no Jin

This festival celebrates Niigata's renowned sake heritage, offering over 500 types of sake, local cuisine, seminars, and stage performances.

7–8 Mar 2027Niigata · Chubu

Festival

Shizukumiya Festival

A spring procession of 22 sake barrel shrines celebrates the completion of new sake and prays for an abundant harvest of the five grains.

15 Mar 2027Gifu · 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

Miyajidake Kakashi-no-Sato Festival

Around 600 uniquely designed scarecrows greet visitors each spring, inspired by the philosophy that amusing figures will delight viewers.

20 Mar – 5 May 2027Kumamoto · Kyushu

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 2027Yamanashi · 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

Shrine

Shimogamo Shrine

Dating to the 6th century, this Kyoto shrine dedicated to Tamayori-hime and her father was worshipped as protection against misfortune and a guardian of the capital.

Kyoto

Shrine

Hie Shrine

Hie Shrine was established in 1335 near Toyama Castle and hosts the Sanno Festival in June, which attracts 200,000 visitors to the approach streets lined with food stalls.

Toyama

Shrine

Kamigamo Shrine

One of Japan's oldest Shinto shrines, dedicated to the thunder deity and honored since 794 when Kyoto became the imperial capital.

Kyoto

Shrine

Heisenji Hakusan Jinja

Famed for its mossy gardens, Heisenji Hakusan Shrine is designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty and Historic Site, with origins as a Buddhist temple built in 717.

Katsuyama · Fukui

Shrine

Mamada Hachiman Shrine

This 1,300-year-old shrine hosts a Snake Festival on May 5 with seven giant snakes exceeding 15 meters in length, a designated National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

Oyama · Tochigi

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

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