10 of the Most Popular Japanese Festivals (2024 Edition)

How Do You Celebrate a Japanese Festival?

Japanese festivals, called "matsuri" in Japanese, are traditionally held to celebrate and pray to local deities for a wide range of wishes, like abundant harvests, good fortune, self-fulfillment, and protection from disease. Japanese festivals can be passionate and intense or relaxed and peaceful, while some are just plain bizarre. Japanese festivals run all throughout the year, although many of the biggest are concentrated in summer, particularly around the Obon holiday season.

Most Japanese festivals are run annually or semi-annually by a shrine and can last anywhere between a single day to an entire month. While there is no definitive data on exactly how many Japanese festivals there are a year, estimates suggest that it could be as many as 300,000!

One of the biggest icons present at many Japanese festivals is the “mikoshi,” a portable shrine said to hold a deity, which is paraded around the neighborhood. Other common practices include group dances, traditional costume, effigy burning, floats, and musical performances.

Often surrounding Japanese festivals are stalls selling food, drinks, souvenirs, toys, and more. Locals will dress up in kimono or yukata to watch the events while relishing festival treats, which include chocolate bananas, karaage fried chicken, okonomiyaki pancakes, yakisoba noodles, and more. If you’re looking for an excuse to chow down on Japanese street food or wear a kimono or yukata, you won’t find a better occasion than a Japanese festival!

Without further ado, here are our picks for the 10 best popular Japanese festivals!

1. Awa Odori (Mid-August, Tokushima)

The Awa Odori takes place in Tokushima City in the remote prefecture of Tokushima on Shikoku Island, and it is the largest traditional dance festival in Japan. Occurring for several days during mid-August, the Awa Odori boasts over 400 years of profound history and is counted amongst Japan’s Three Great Bon Odori festivals, which are all large-scale traditional dances occurring during the summertime holiday of Obon.

The Awa Odori features groups of choreographed dancers known as “ren.” There are lots of different ren of varying sizes, from amateur ren made up of locals and schoolchildren to highly trained professional ren.

Each ren is divided between the men’s dance and the women’s dance, with the men donning a traditional garment known as a “happi” while women wear a yukata and traditional “amigasa” straw hat with “geta” wooden clogs. The men’s dance is intense and dynamic while the women’s is refined and elegant. The Awa Odori is also noted for its distinctive duple time music, which is produced by a band called a “narimono” with a number of instruments including bells, flutes, shamisen, and taiko drums.

2. Sendai Tanabata Matsuri (August 6-8, Sendai)

Tanabata, also known as the Star Festival, is an important Japanese festival taking place on July 7 and lasting until mid-August (depending on the area and region). During this time, people will write their wishes on strips of rectangular “tanzaku” paper and hang it on the leaves of bamboo while praying to the stars. Streets, shopping arcades, homes, and stores will display decorations of colorful streamers and bamboo leaves, weaving together an energetic atmosphere.

The festival was originally based on the Chinese Qixi Festival and celebrates the legend of Orihime and Hikoboshi, star-crossed lovers represented by the stars Vega and Altair who are separated by the Milky Way. Once a year, during the seventh day of the seventh month according to the lunisolar calendar, they are allowed to meet, marking the beginning of Tanabata. During this time, the light shining from Vega and Altair is said to be at its brightest, leading to the belief that the two deities are finally together.

While much of Japan now celebrates Tanabata on July 7, the city of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, the home of Japan’s leading Tanabata festival, hosts it a month later in line with the old lunisolar calendar from August 6-8. The Sendai Tanabata Matsuri was originally promoted by Sendai’s samurai founder Date Masamune and continues today as one of the most flamboyant Japanese festivals. The entirety of Sendai and surroundings become engulfed in a tapestry of dazzling handmade Tanabata decorations, including bamboo, origami, tanzaku paper, drawstring bags, and streamers. Many are made to be huge and extravagant, with the thick meter-long streamers hung on huge sticks of bamboo being the most eye-catching.

3. Aomori Nebuta Matsuri (Early August, Aomori)

One of northern Tohoku’s stand-out events, the Aomori Nebuta Matsuri is centered around huge, dramatic “nebuta” paper lantern floats designed in the shapes of deities, mythical creatures, kabuki actors, and more. The Nebuta Matsuri is celebrated simultaneously in almost every region of Aomori Prefecture during early August, with popular places to witness it being Aomori City, Hirosaki, and Goshogawara. Surrounding the floats are “haneto” dancers, who perform an energetic routine timed to a musical accompaniment while dressed flamboyantly.

Beginning as a ritual to send off the spirits of the dead, the origins of this Japanese festival can be traced back as far as the Tanabata/Obon festivals of the Nara Period (710-794). While most of these festivals see small lanterns gently gliding down rivers, those in Aomori have evolved into massive sculpture-like nebuta lanterns reaching up to 5 meters tall and 9 meters wide. With over two million people mobilized for the event, it remains one of Japan’s largest celebrations and a part of Tohoku’s Three Great Festivals.

4. Sapporo Snow Festival (Late January/Early February, Sapporo)

Aiming to make the bitter cold of Hokkaido’s mid-winter bright and fun, the Sapporo Snow Festival features hundreds of massive and extraordinarily detailed ice and snow sculptures adorning the city of Sapporo. The festival’s main location is the central Odori Park, while the nearby neighborhood of Susukino and the Tsu Dome in Higashi Ward also showcase a delightful range worth checking out.

Compared with many of the other Japanese festivals on this list, the Sapporo Snow Festival has a relatively short and humble history. It was kicked off by a group of local high schoolers in 1950 who started building sculptures out of snow plowed and discarded in Odori Park. Each year, more professional and passionate sculptors would come to try and outdo each other, making the event rapidly grow in scale. Now attracting over 2.5 million visitors from Japan and abroad, the ice and snow sculptures lining the frozen streets grow more ambitious and breathtaking every year. The festival is also enhanced by stunning illuminations, projection mapping, ice skating, food stalls, snow slides, and more, providing entertainment well worth braving the cold for!

5. Hakata Dontaku Matsuri (May 3-4, Fukuoka)

Held annually on May 3-4 in the city of Fukuoka in Kyushu, the Hakata Dontaku Matsuri is one of the most popular Golden Week (Japanese holiday period in late April/early May) festivals. The streets are taken over by beautifully dressed dancers, many bearing the festival’s iconic wooden "shamoji” spoon, alongside gorgeously decorated “hana jidosha” floats.

The word “dontaku” is said to have originated from the Dutch word “zondag,” meaning “Sunday” or “holiday.” The word came into use in Japan during the Meiji Period (1868-1912) to denote the 1st and 6th of each month, which were considered official holidays between 1868 and 1876. The Hakata Dontaku Matsuri itself can be traced back to 1179 as a “Matsubayashi” festival to celebrate the Lunar New Year. While it was briefly banned by the government in 1872, it was kickstarted again in 1879 on a new date under the fresh name of Dontaku. After the war, it assumed its current form in 1962, consisting of a series of processions and dances by both young and old men and women over two days. Nowadays, there are roughly 650 Dontaku groups of over 30,000 performers cheered on by up to 2 million spectators!

6. Nagasaki Lantern Festival (Late January/February, Nagasaki)

Beginning as a humble Chinese New Year celebration, the Nagasaki Lantern Festival is now a dreamlike display of over 15,000 lanterns transforming the city into a tapestry of fiery reds and yellows. Held during the Lunar New Year, this Japanese festival attracts over 1 million visitors to Nagasaki City’s Chinatown and nearby locations to witness the lanterns alongside fireworks, traditional dances, theatre performances, and more.

The festival was originally started by Chinese residents living in Nagasaki Chinatown celebrating the Chinese New Year. After impressing the other citizens of Nagasaki, the festival was ramped up and redesigned in 1994 to include all residents, quickly becoming one of Kyushu’s most prominent winter icons. The festival runs for around two weeks during an ever-changing period around late January and February. There are 7 main areas decorated with lanterns, including the Nagasaki Chinatown, Central Park, the Chinese district of Tojinyashiki, Kofukuji Temple, and more.

7. Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri (Mid-September, Kishiwada)

Held in Kishiwada City, Osaka, during mid-September, the Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri is known for its show of extremely large and heavy “danjiri” wooden floats pulled along at breakneck speeds. Considered one of the most thrilling traditional Japanese festivals, over 400,000 spectators gather to watch this nail-biting display of raw energy and excitement.

With up to 10 different varieties unique to certain areas, danjiri floats have hundreds of years of history and are at the heart of Kansai culture. Each danjiri hosts a group of musicians and locals, with one individual chosen to stand atop to shift their weight and help it around corners. While there are several festivals featuring danjiri, Kishiwada is by far the most famous. The danjiri here weigh about 4 tons and are generally made from the wood of the Japanese “keyaki” tree, further adorned with intricate carvings by the town’s most skilled carpenters. To move it along, a team of up to 200 participants pull ropes from the front while pushing the wheels from behind with a stick, all carefully balancing their power while showing off their strength and dexterity.

Recommended Hotel in Kishiwada: APA Hotel Kanku-Kishiwada

8. Tenjin Matsuri (Late June - July 25, Osaka)

Ranked as one of the top three Japanese festivals, the Tenjin Festival in Osaka is celebrated for its dual land and river processions topped off by a breathtaking fireworks display. While events last for an entire month, the main spectacle takes place on July 24-25, with over 1 million people flocking to take part.

For more than 1,000 years, Tenjin Matsuri festivals have been held at Tenmangu shrines across Japan around the 25th of each month to honor the deity of scholarship, Sugawara Michizane. The annual Tenjin Matsuri in Osaka is the most famous iteration of this tradition, with the climax of over 5,000 fireworks and convoy of approximately 100 boats, many bearing bonfires, transforming Osaka into another world.

The processions on the 24th are also worth checking out, with drums and men donning red hats swarming the streets in the afternoon to announce the completion of festival preparations. These processions intensify on the 25th, where a costumed crowd march from Tenmangu Shrine led by the red-hatted men banging taiko drums while balancing on see-saw-like stands. With plenty of dances, exotic costumes, and more, it makes for an unforgettable two days in Osaka!

9. Gion Matsuri (July, Kyoto)

Held by Yasaka Shrine, which sits between Kyoto’s historical Gion and Higashiyama districts, the Gion Matsuri is another of the most famous Japanese festivals. Its history dates all the way back to 869 with the Emperor declaring a festival be held to appease the gods and curb plague.

The Gion Matsuri is known for the spectacular procession of floats on the 17th and 24th of July along with the smaller “yoiyama” festivals the preceding nights. During the yoiyama, the giant “yama” and “hoko” floats used for the main processions are displayed outdoors with their lanterns lit accompanied by Gion-bayashi traditional music. There’s plenty more happening throughout July, so be sure to check out what events line up with your stay.

The festival is also a time for locals and visitors to don their best kimono or yukata and show it off about town. Surrounded by the ancient streets of Kyoto’s geisha district, the jovial yet deeply spiritual atmosphere offers an intimate encounter with the soul of Japanese culture. Kyoto is also host to a number of other Japanese festivals throughout the year, including the iconic burning kanji characters of the Gozan no Okuribi festival.

10. Kanda Matsuri (May, Tokyo)

The Kanda Matsuri is one of Tokyo’s biggest Shinto (the native religion of Japan) festivals. Beginning during the Edo period, it is held by Kanda Myojin Shrine in Tokyo’s Chiyoda City in May and spreads out across neighborhoods like Kanda, Nihonbashi, Akihabara, and Marunouchi. Over 200 mikoshi (portable shrines) accompanied by roughly a thousand participants and thousands of spectators take over the streets. The full “honmatsuri” festival takes place on odd-numbered years, while a simplified version is held on even years. Complemented by events throughout the week, the main attractions usually occur over the weekend closest to May 15, with day-long processions on Saturday and parades of mikoshi on Sunday.

The origins of this Japanese festival are murky, with some form of it believed to have existed during the original construction of Kanda Myojin Shrine in 730. However, its modern iteration truly kicked off when Tokugawa Ieyasu visited Kanda Myojin Shrine to pray for his victory in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. He decisively won, leading to the start of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Coincidentally, the day Tokugawa officially unified the whole of Japan was also the shrine’s festival day, naturally leading Tokugawa to believe the shrine held immense power. He allowed its mikoshi to enter the Edo Castle grounds and it became officially recognized and protected by the shogunate.

Add a Japanese Festival to Your Japan Itinerary!

Tasty foods, enchanting parades, soulful music, delightful costumes, and elegant dancesーthose seeking an encounter with traditional Japan, nothing beats a Japanese festival! Even if your trip doesn’t coincide with one of the big ones, you’re almost guaranteed to find some form of Japanese festival or similar event throughout the year, so do some research and join the fun!

Top image: julianne.hide / Shutterstock