In Japan, thousands of festivals and events occur throughout the year. There are various festivals that take place in a certain province during different times of the year. In this article, we will share a list of festivals from Japan and describe the most popular ones.
Have you ever wondered how to say the name of these festivals in Japanese? In the matsuri list, we will also share the names of the festivals in Japanese and the dates of some. Unfortunately the list does not contain all the festivals, there are thousands of local matsuri...
The list of festivals with their date and location can be found at the end of this article. To help you get around, we'll leave a summary or index below. I hope you like this great Japan festival guide I prepared for you:
If you want a list of festivals with their dates in 2022, we recommend visiting Japanoscope and its list of festivals.
Table of Content
Local Festivals in Japan
We can't list all of Japan's festivals in the article because thousands are held exclusively in certain cities. Virtually every city has some regional, seasonal or unique festival to celebrate something like a temple or event.
The schools in Japan also hold festivals. Every year, events called Bunkasai and various others are held on different dates and organized by each school in the country. Therefore, it becomes impossible to list all the festivals in Japan.
There are even foreign festivals in some places. For example, in the Asakusa neighborhood, the Carnaval is held every year. Cities like Nagoya, Hamamatsu, and those with many foreigners also hold cultural events about countries.
Japan's Bizarre Festivals
Japan is also very successful for its many bizarre festivals in the eyes of the West. There are festivals like the Navel Festival, the penis festival, the festival where men get naked behind an amulet and so on.
There is also a festival where sumo wrestlers try to make babies cry. Another bizarre festival where people go out in costumes with sticks in hand to scare others and more.
We have our own article that showcases the most bizarre festivals of Japan, we recommend reading this article to learn about the unusual things you can only find in the land of the rising sun.
Tanabata Matsuri – Festival of the Stars
The Tanabata Matsuri, also known as the Star Festival, is one of the most anticipated events of summer, famous for the legend of Orihime and Hikoboshi and its tanzaku decorations. The festival can take place between July and August depending on the year and location.
The legend of the Tanabata festival consists of the story of the love of two stars, Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). The tradition of the festival is found in small notes tied to a bamboo decoration.
At the end of the celebration, the tickets are burned, with the purpose of sending the wishes to the heavens. To learn more about the Tanabata festival, we recommend reading our article on Tanabata Matsuri - O Festival das Estrelas.
Children's Festivals in Japan
There are 3 festivals dedicated to children in Japan, we have Children's Day Kodomo no Hi which takes place during Golden Week on May 5th. We have Hina Matsuri or Girls' Day which occurs on March 3rd. And Shichi-go-san which takes place on November 15th.
Each of these festivals has its traditions and peculiarities, during the girls' day there is the famous tradition of dolls, on boys' day we have the fish decorations, on shichi-go-san children of certain ages are taken to the temple.
We have a special article that talks about these three festivals, their peculiarities, and songs. You can find the article by clicking or searching for Kodomo no Hi, Hina Matsuri e 753 – Dia das Crianças no Japão on Suki Desu.
Hanami, Hanabi and Tsukimi - Festivals of Appreciation
Some festivals are dedicated to the appreciation of flowers like Hanami or appreciation of the moon like Tsukimi. Hanami is one of the most famous festivals in Japan, where we enjoy cherry blossoms during spring.
Hanabi Taikai is a fireworks festival that takes place throughout the summer across Japan on different dates. At this festival people visit a kind of stall fair using their yukata to enjoy the fireworks at night.
These are not the only festivals where you visit a certain place to appreciate nature or art, there are many others. We recommend reading our guide on Hanami - Ver Flores and our guide on Hanabi Taikai.
Takayama Matsuri - Festival of Floats
The Takayama Festival is considered one of the three most beautiful in Japan, started in the 16th century and attracts visitors from all over the country. The attractions of the festival are the floats (yatai), which are cultural heritage of Japan.
The cars on the streets are really fantastic: all carved in wood or metal, lacquered, painted to the smallest detail and with gold-plated ornaments. They are truly mobile treasures, each one is hundreds of years old and the pride of this artisan city.
Some of the cars have their own music, others feature flute performances, there is also a parade, puppet shows, and many other things during these two days of the festival. To learn more, read our article about Takayama Matsuri.
Sapporo Snow Festival - Snow Festival
In Hokkaido [北海道], in the city of Sapporo [札幌], one of the largest winter festivals in Japan takes place. The grand snow festival of the city of Sapporo is called Sapporo Snow Festival [さっぽろ雪まつり]. The event usually happens in February.
In this festival there are ice and snow sculpture competitions. Some sculptures are gigantic and require machines and a base to make. In addition, the festival has several attractions such as skating rink, SKI, AIR Jumping, walking, slide tube and others.
This is the perfect opportunity to see gigantic snow and ice sculptures at Odori Park and along the main street Susukino. This freezing event has been happening for 7 days since 1950. To learn more about the event, read the article about Sapporo Snow Festival.
List of top festivals in Japan
The list below, in addition to the festivals and their Japanese names, also shares other events that might fit the category, as well as words to improve your vocabulary. Some dates and holidays are also listed below:
| Kanji | Japanese | Romaji |
| Festival | 祭り | matsuri |
| Event | 行事 | gyouji |
| spring festival | 春祭り | haru matsuri |
| Summer festival | 夏祭り | natsu matsuri |
| autumn festival | 秋祭り | aki matsuri |
| snow festival | 雪祭り | yuki matsuri |
| Festival of culture and art | 文化祭 | bunkasai |
| New Year | 正月 | shou gatsu |
| Hanami - Festival of Flowers | 花見 | hanami |
| Hanabi - Fire Festival | 花火 | hanabi |
| Valentine's Day | バレンタインデー | barentain de- |
| Doll Festival (March 3rd) | 雛祭り | hina matsuri |
| Buddha's Birthday (April 8) | 花祭り | hana matsuri |
| Green Day (April 29) | 緑の日 | midori no hi |
| Golden Week | ゴールデンウイーク | go-ruden ui-ku |
| Children's Day (May 5th) | 子供の日 | kodomo no hi |
| Mothers Day | 母の日 | haha no hi |
| Father's Day | 父の日 | pee no hi |
| The Festival of the Stars (7th of July) | 七夕 | Tanabata |
| The Festival of the Stars (7th of July) | 星祭り | hoshi matsuri |
| Bon Festival (mid-August) | お盆 | obon |
| Ceremony in which paper lanterns are floating in a river (August 15/16) | 灯篭流し | tourou nagashi |
| Festival for 3,5 and 7 year olds (November 15th) | 七五三 | Seven five three |
| Culture Day (November 3) | 文化の日 | bunka no hi |
| Christmas | クリスマス | kurisumasu |
| New Year's Eve (December 31) | 大晦日 | oomisoka |
| Summer holidays | 夏休み | natsu yasumi |
| Winter break | 冬休み | fuyu yasumi |
| Birthday | 誕生日 | tanjoubi |
| Entrance Ceremony (School) | 入学式 | nyuugaku shiki |
| coming of age day | 成人式 | seijin shiki |
| coming of age day | 成年式 | seinen shiki |
| Graduation ceremony | 卒業式 | sotsugyou shiki |
| Wedding | 結婚式 | kekkon shiki |
| Funeral | 葬式 | I'm shiki |
| Election | 選挙 | senkyo |
| Halloween | ハロウィーン | haroui-n |
List of famous traditional matsuri
| Matsuri | Place | Note |
| Aoi | Kyoto | held at Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrine in May |
| attuta | Nagoya | held at Atsuta Shrine in June |
| Awa Odori | Tokushima, Tokushima | held in Tokushima in August |
| Dontaku | Fukuoka | held from May 3rd to May |
| Gion | Kyoto | held in july |
| Hadaka | Okayama | held in february |
| Hakata Gion Yamakasa | Fukuoka | held in Kushida-jinja in July |
| Hōnen | Komaki | held at Tagata Shrine in March |
| Jidai | Kyoto | held in october |
| Kanamara | Kawasaki | held at Kanayama Shrine in April |
| Kanda | Tokyo | held at Kanda Myojin Shrine in May |
| Kanto | Akita | held from August 3rd to August |
| Kishiwada Danjiri | Kishiwada | held in september |
| Festival de leques de Kumagaya | Saitama | held from the 19th to the 3rd of July |
| Nagasaki Kunchi | Nagasaki | held from the 9th of October |
| Miki Autumn Harvest Festival | Miki | held at Ōmiya Hachiman shrine in October |
| Nada no Kenka | Himeji | held at Matsubara Hachiman Shrine on October 1 and 1 |
| Nagoya | Nagoya | held at Hisaya Ōdori Park in Sakae Nagoya |
| Nebuta | Aomori | held from august |
| Neputa (Hirosaki) | Hirosaki | held in the first week of August |
| Ojima Neputa Festival | Gunma | held from 1st to 1st of August |
| Sanja | Tokyo | held at Asakusa Shrine in May |
| Sannō | Tokyo | held at the Hie shrine in June |
| Tanabata | Sendai | held from 6th to 8th of August |
| Tenjin | Osaka | held in Akasaka Tenman-gū in July |
| Wakakusa Yamayaki | Nara | held in Nara on the fourth Saturday of January |
| Yosakoi Matsuri | Kochi | held in Kochi in August |
| Yotaka | Toyama | held in Tonami Toyama in June |
Japan music and film festivals
| Festival name | Type | City |
| Asian Queer Film Festival | Film Festival | Tokyo |
| B-Boy Park | hip hop festival | |
| CON-CAN Movie Festival | Film Festival | Tokyo |
| Concert na Pedra | Rock Festival | |
| Cosquín in Japan | folk festival | |
| Firefox Rock Festival | Rock Festival | |
| Fuji Rock Festival | Rock Festival | |
| Heart-Aid Shisen | Rock Festival | |
| Hiroshima International Animation Festival | Film Festival | Hiroshima |
| Image Forum Festival | Film Festival | Tokyo |
| Viva sob o céu | Rock Festival | |
| Loud Park Festival | heavy metal festival | |
| Mainichi Film Awards | Film Festival | Tokyo |
| Mount Fuji Jazz Festival | jazz festival | |
| Festival de Jazz de Newport em Madarao | jazz festival | |
| Okinawa International Movie Festival | Film Festival | Ginowan & Naha, |
| Okinawa Island | ||
| Rising Sun Rock Festival | Rock Festival | |
| Rock in Japan Festival | Rock Festival | |
| Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto | classical music festival | |
| Songs Day | pop festival | |
| Summer Sonic Festival | Rock Festival | |
| Tokyo Filmex | Film Festival | Tokyo |
| Tokyo International Film Festival | Film Festival | Tokyo |
| Festival Internacional de Cinema Gay e Lésbico de Tóquio | Film Festival | Tokyo |
| Tokyo Music Festival | pop festival | |
| Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival | Film Festival | Yamagata |
| Yamaha Music Festival | classical music festival | |
| Yamaha Popular Song Contest | pop festival | Kakegawa |
| Yokohama Film Festival | Film Festival | Yokohama |
| Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival | Film Festival | Yūbari, Hokkaido |
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