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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

Omuta Daijayama Festival

A festival featuring massive serpent-shaped wooden floats that spew fire and smoke as they parade through Ōmuta City streets in July.

25–26 Jul 2027Fukuoka · Kyushu

Festival

Furusato Miya Matsuri

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

1–2 Aug 2027Tochigi · 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.

All Events Places

Festival

Omuta Daijayama Festival

A festival featuring massive serpent-shaped wooden floats that spew fire and smoke as they parade through Ōmuta City streets in July.

25–26 Jul 2027Fukuoka · Kyushu

Festival

Furusato Miya Matsuri

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

1–2 Aug 2027Tochigi · 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 2027

Iwate · 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 2027Okayama · Chugoku

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 2027Aomori · 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 2027Akita · 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 2027Aomori · Tohoku

Festival

Yaegaki Shrine Gion Festival

Every 4–5 August, ten neighbourhoods of Yokaichiba send mikoshi through the streets while crowds throw water over them. A Chiba festival nearly 500 years old.

4–5 Aug 2027Chiba · Kanto

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 2027Gunma · Kanto

Festival

Suhoteisai Festival

A rare Yamaguchi ritual festival said to date back over 1,800 years, with seven nights of dances around the Oni-ishi stone, towering banners, and lantern-topped poles.

7–13 Aug 2027Yamaguchi · Chugoku

Performing Art

Yamashiro Daidengaku Festival

The Yamashiro Daidengaku Festival revives the ancient dengaku dance form rooted in Shintoism, through performances by local talents and renowned actors in period costumes.

8–9 Aug 2027Ishikawa · Chubu

Firework

Mikuni Fireworks Festival

A summer fireworks festival in the coastal town of Mikuni, Fukui, where hanabi are launched over the sea, alongside food stalls, festival games, and traditional performances.

11 Aug 2027Fukui · Chubu

Festival

Awa Odori Festival

Japan's most famous traditional dance festival, held annually in Tokushima City, where dancers form groups with distinctive choreography and costumes.

12–15 Aug 2027Tokushima · Shikoku