Cultural Festival Events in Japan

Kyoto Hanezu Dance and Plum Festival

An enchanting festival with a dark backstory. Witness beautiful plum blossoms and a solemn dance at the Hanezu Odori Dance Festival in Kyoto.

Tagata Shrine Hōnensai “Penis Festival”

Join this annual celebration of Tagata Shrine in Aichi and promote all things phallic.

Kiyomizu Temple Seiryu-e Dragon Festival (March)

The Seiryu-e Festival at Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto celebrates the Blue Dragon, a guardian deity thought to protect the city’s east.

Hodare “Penis Festival”

On the second Sunday of March, a 2.2 meter tall phallic-shaped statue that weighs approximately 600kg is paraded around a small village in Niigata.

Baikasai Plum Blossom Festival

Stunning plum blossom, tea ceremonies, and even Geisha make an unmissable event.

Daito Ohara Water Festival

Getting soaked with freezing water while half-naked in the middle of winter? Catch Iwate’s Daito Ohara Water Festival.

Gonbo (Burdock) Fertility Festival

A fertility festival at Nakayama Shrine in Mie.

Suita Fire Festival

Visit the Suita Fire Festival at Jōkō Enmanji Temple in Osaka for fire rituals, sacred smoke, and blessings for the year ahead.

Radish Festival

Warm up this February at Ōhara’s Sanzen-in Temple, where locals serve steaming soup made from locally grown radish.

Konomiya Naked Festival

9,000 men, freezing water, and one God-man. Japan’s wildest naked festival is not for the faint-hearted.

Kamihinokinai Paper Balloon Festival

Watch the magical sight of of dozens of paper balloons adorning the night sky.

Mihara Daruma Festival

Festival food and daruma dolls aplenty. For a daruma market of historic proportions, there's none quite like Mihara City's annual Daruma Festival.

Noboribetsu Onsen “Naked Man” Festival

A steamy festival in the depths of the freezing winter

Yasaka Shrine Setsubun

Setsubun at Yasaka Shrine's is unusual because it features geiko, geisha from Kyoto.

Heian Jingu Setsubun

One of the best-known Setsubun festivals in Kyoto.

Demon Festival on Mount Yoshino in Nara

Fancy a dance with a demon? Nara's Kinpusenji Temple offers a unique Setsubun experience with its annual Demon Festival.

Kayabuki no Sato Snow (Miyama Village) Lantern Festival

An amazing chance to see a remote, snow-covered thatched village illuminated with hundreds of lanterns.

Wakakusa Yamayaki in Nara

See an entire mountainside in Nara go up in flames as fireworks are launched behind it.

Togakushi Dondoyaki Fire Festival

A traditional Japanese New Years' festival to bring you some luck.

Miyoshi Bonden Festival

Teams race to be the first to reach the shrine and onlookers also push to touch the special charms of this shrine.

People-Throwing and Ash-Smearing Festival

Watch men get tossed into snow and behold the messy ash-smearing chaos.

Shittenoji Doya Doya Festival

See dozens of loincloth-clad men and boys doused in very cold water as they compete in teams for banknotes.

Dontosai Festival

Put some heat into your winter and New Year with this steamy (in more ways than one!) festival.

Kyoto Toka Ebisu Festival

Join in this noisy and raucous festival as people knock on wooden boards to get the attention of a lucky God.