Events in Japan

Nozawa Onsen Fire Festival

One of the three greatest fire festivals in Japan.

People-Throwing and Ash-Smearing Festival

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

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.

Togakushi Dondoyaki Fire Festival

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

Kyoto Candlelight Concert: Best of Joe Hisaishi (Studio Ghibli)

Warm up a chilly night with candlelight and your favorite songs from Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi.

Wakakusa Yamayaki in Nara

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

Beppu Tsurumi-Dake Cold Weather Competition

Test your mettle in quirky contests like icicle clinging and enjoy local flavors with a shochu guessing game.

Wonder Night Hill Illumination in Osaka

Step into a dazzling world of lights at one of southern Osaka’s largest illumination events.

Festival of Lights Osaka

See Osaka come alive with light on those cold winter nights.

Kyoto Candlelight Concert: Best of Joe Hisaishi (Studio Ghibli)

Warm up a chilly night with candlelight and your favorite songs from Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi.

Kayabuki no Sato Snow (Miyama Village) Lantern Festival

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

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.

Shirakawago Winter Light-Up 2026

See a traditional Japanese village lit up bright on a cold winter's night.

Yasaka Shrine Setsubun

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

Dojima Yakushido Setsubun Omizukumi Festival

Instead of bean-throwing, you toss joss sticks into a fire at this traditional Setsubun Festival.

Chinese New Year Festivities

Celebrate Lunar New Year in Kōbe.

Kobe Luminarie 2026

A beautiful light show and memorial in one Kobe event.

Noboribetsu Onsen “Naked Man” Festival

A steamy festival in the depths of the freezing winter

Tadami Snow Festival

Tadami has an abundance of snow, from which participants carve giant monuments and statues.

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.

Namahage Sedo Festival

A festival in which locals dress up as demons and scare the bejesus out of young children.

Miyajima Oyster Festival

Chow down on cheap oysters at one of the most beautiful spots in Japan.

Abashiri Okhotsk Drift Ice Festival

It gets very, very cold in the far north of Hokkaido, so what better place to have a festival with giant carved ice sculptures?