Events & Gatherings

Festival Chubu G

例年7月中旬〜9月上旬（約30夜）

Gujo Odori

Hachiman, Gujo, Gifu

Every summer evening from July 11 to September 5 — thirty-one nights in all — music rises from the streets of Gujo Hachi

Market Chubu J

Daily

Jinya-mae Morning Market

岐阜県高山市八軒町1-5

Every morning, farmers come down from the mountain villages and set up their stalls in front of a government house that

Market Shikoku K

Every Sun

Kochi Sunday Market

Otesujii, Kochi City, Kochi

Every Sunday morning, the boulevard leading to Kochi Castle becomes a different kind of road. Both lanes are closed to

Community Chubu M

Daily

Miyagawa Morning Market

Miyagawa riverside (Kajibashi to Yayoibashi), Shimosan-no-machi, Takayama, Gifu

White canvas stalls line the east bank of the Miyagawa River for seven hundred meters, from Kajibashi bridge to Yayoibas

Market Kanto K

Daily (closed Wed)

Katsuura Morning Market

Shimohoncho and Nakahoncho streets, Katsuura, Chiba

In the fishing town of Katsuura on the Boso Peninsula, a morning market has been held almost every day since 1591. It w

Market Hokkaido H

Daily

Hakodate Morning Market

9-19 Wakamatsu-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido

One minute on foot from Hakodate Station, and the city changes register entirely. About 250 stalls spread across roughl

Market Chubu O

Daily

Omicho Market

50 Kami-Omichocho, Kanazawa, Ishikawa

Locals call it Omicho. The market opened in 1721, during the era of the Kaga domain, when a fire destroyed several mark

Community Kinki T

Monthly (21)

Toji Kobo-ichi Flea Market

1 Kujo-cho, Minami-ku, Kyoto (To-ji Temple grounds)

On the 21st of every month, the grounds of To-ji Temple become a market. More than a thousand stalls. Antiques, old too

Market Okinawa M

Daily

Makishi Public Market

2-10-1 Matsuo, Naha, Okinawa

In Okinawa, a market is called a machigwaa. Step inside, and the fish on the counters are colors you won't find on the

Gathering Chubu E

Year-round

Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale

Tokamachi, Niigata (Echigo-Tsumari region)

Echigo-Tsumari sits in the mountains along the border of Niigata and Nagano prefectures — a region of extraordinary snow

Residency Other O

Year-round

Otona Shima Ryugaku — Island Living Program

Ama-cho, Oki Islands, Shimane

The island's unofficial motto is "Nai mono wa nai" — what isn't here, isn't needed. It's a quiet provocation, aimed at e

Festival Tohoku T

Year-round

Tono Festival

Tono City, Iwate

Tono is a town in the mountains of Iwate Prefecture that seems to remember things other places have forgotten. It was he

Festival Tohoku N

Year-round

Namahage Sedo Festival

Shinzan Shrine, Kitaura Shinzan, Oga, Akita

The Oga Peninsula in winter is a different country. Cold comes in off the Japan Sea, the cedar forests around Shinzan Sh

Festival Tohoku S

Year-round

Soma Nomaoi — The Wild Horse Chase

Hibaragahara Festival Grounds & Soma Nakamura Shrine, Minamisoma / Soma, Fukushima

The origin story is a thousand years old: Taira no Masakado, the warlord, released wild horses on the plains of what is

Festival Chubu O

Daily

Ojiya Bullfighting (Ushi no Tsukiai)

Ojiya Bullfighting Arena, Oguriyama, Ojiya, Niigata

There is no winner. Every bout ends in a draw. In the mountains of Echigo, a tradition said to be nearly a thousand year

Festival Chugoku I

Daily

Iwami Kagura

Across the Iwami region of western Shimane (Hamada, Masuda, Oda and others)

Serpents writhe across the entire stage. In the Iwami region of western Shimane, performers in dazzling masks and embroi

Festival Kyushu T

毎年11月中旬〜2月上旬

Takachiho Night Kagura

Takachiho Shrine and village communities, Takachiho, Miyazaki

In the land where the myths were born, people dance through the night. Takachiho in Miyazaki is held to be the place whe

Market Kinki N

Daily (closed Wed)

Nishiki Market

Nishikikoji-dori, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto

It has long been called Kyoto's kitchen. Nishiki Market runs about three hundred and ninety meters under its arcade, lin

Market Kinki H

Every 2th Sat

Heian Flea Market

Okazaki Park, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto

Once a month, someone's past gathers in a plaza. At Okazaki Park in Kyoto, the Heian Flea Market sets up on the second S

Market Kanto F

Every Sat & Sun

Farmer's Market at the United Nations University

United Nations University plaza, 5-53-70 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

In the middle of the city, you can talk to the people who grew it. In Aoyama, Tokyo, on the plaza before the United Nati

Market Kanto T

Daily

Tokyo Flea Market

Keiokaku, 4-31-1 Tamagawa, Chofu, Tokyo

Old things alone draw this many people. In Chofu, Tokyo, twice a year, in spring and autumn, the Tokyo Flea Market is he

Market Kanto T

Daily (closed Sun)

Tsukiji Outer Market

Tsukiji 4-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

The market moved, but the town remained. In Tsukiji, Tokyo, there once stood one of the world's largest fish markets. In

Market Kinki K

Daily

Kuromon Market

Nipponbashi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Osaka

People call it Osaka's kitchen. Kuromon Market stretches about five hundred and eighty meters, lined with some hundred a

Market Kanto D

Daily

Design Festa

Tokyo Big Sight, 3-11-1 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo

Whether it is good or not is beside the point. The only question is whether you made it. At Tokyo Big Sight, twice a yea

Market Chugoku K

Every 1th Sun

Kurashiki Tenryo Morning Market

Around the Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter, Honmachi, Kurashiki, Okayama

In a town of white walls, a morning market sets up. Kurashiki in Okayama prospered in the Edo period as a tenryo, a terr

Gathering Tohoku T

Daily

Towada Oirase Art Festival

Lake Towada, Oirase Gorge and the city center, Towada, Aomori

The sound of the mountain stream becomes part of the work. In Towada, Aomori, lies Lake Towada and the Oirase Gorge that

Gathering Kyushu K

Daily

Kunisaki Peninsula Art Festival

Kunisaki, Bungotakada and the Kunisaki Peninsula, Oita

In a land of Buddhas, contemporary art takes up residence. The Kunisaki Peninsula in Oita is a round peninsula jutting i

Gathering Chubu N

Daily

Northern Alps Art Festival

Omachi and the surrounding hills and lakes, Nagano

In a town raised by snowmelt, you look at art. Omachi in Nagano sits right at the foot of the Northern Alps, peaks of th

Gathering Tohoku Y

Daily

Yamagata Biennale

Tohoku University of Art and Design and venues across Yamagata City

A university opens up a town. In Yamagata City, an art festival is held once every two years, organized by the Tohoku Un

Gathering Kanto K

Daily

KENPOKU ART (Ibaraki North Art Festival)

Northern Ibaraki, including Hitachi, Hitachiota, and Daigo

Sea and mountains: two faces in a single festival. Northern Ibaraki has a coastal area facing the Pacific and a mountain

Residency Kinki N

Daily

Nishiawakura Local Venture Program

Nishiawakura, Aida District, Okayama

A village that did not abandon its forest is calling the young. Nishiawakura in Okayama is a small mountain village of a

Residency Chubu N

Daily

Nanmoku Mountain Village Study Program

Nanmoku, Kanra District, Gunma

From the most aged village in Japan. Nanmoku in Gunma is said to have one of the highest proportions of elderly resident

Residency Other G

Daily

Goto Islands Farming and Fishing Life Experience

Fukue Island and the Goto Islands, Goto, Nagasaki

A life with both sea and field. The Goto Islands of Nagasaki are a scattering of more than a hundred and forty islands i

Residency Tohoku K

Daily

Kesennuma Fisherman Experience

Kesennuma, Miyagi

Betrayed by the sea, and still living with the sea. Kesennuma in Miyagi is a port town of Tohoku with one of the world's

Residency Chubu H

Daily

Hida-Furukawa Artisan Town Stay

Furukawa, Hida, Gifu

In a town where carp swim, you face the wood. Hida-Furukawa in Gifu has rows of white-walled storehouses, and hundreds o

Residency Kinki Y

Daily

Yoshino Forestry Experience

Yoshino, Yoshino District, Nara

Looking five hundred years ahead, you plant a tree. Yoshino in Nara is famous for its cherry blossoms. But it is also a

Workshop Kyushu A

Daily

Arita Porcelain Kiln Tour and Painting Experience

Arita, Nishimatsuura District, Saga

Japanese porcelain began in this town. Arita in Saga is where, four hundred years ago, Japan's first porcelain was fired

Workshop Kanto M

Daily

Mashiko Pottery Experience

Mashiko, Haga District, Tochigi

Beauty in the vessels of everyday use. Mashiko in Tochigi is a leading pottery town of the Kanto region, with many studi

Workshop Kinki N

Daily

Nishijin Textile Experience

Nishijin district, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto

A single thread becomes a pattern like a cosmos. Nishijin in Kyoto is the home of the luxury silk textile called Nishiji

Workshop Tohoku N

Daily

Nanbu Ironware Foundry Tour

Mizusawa, Oshu, Iwate

Black, heavy, made to last a lifetime. Oshu in Iwate is the home of Nanbu ironware, known above all for iron kettles. Na

Workshop Chugoku H

Daily

Hagi Ware Climbing Kiln Experience

Hagi, Yamaguchi

One of the vessels most loved by tea masters. Hagi in Yamaguchi is the home of Hagi ware, long held in high regard in th

Gathering Tohoku R

Daily

Reborn-Art Festival

Oshika Peninsula and central Ishinomaki, Miyagi

On the scars of the tsunami, art rises. Ishinomaki in Miyagi, and the Oshika Peninsula, were struck hard by the Great Ea

Festival Chugoku T

毎年7月

Tsuwano Sagi-mai: The Heron Dance

Yasaka Shrine, Tsuwano, Kanoashi, Shimane

Two men dressed as white herons enter the stream that runs through the center of Tsuwano. Their wings open slowly as the

Festival Chugoku T

毎年6月第1金・土・日

Toka-san: Hiroshima's First Yukata Festival

Enko-ji Temple, Nakaku, Hiroshima

June arrives in Hiroshima wearing a yukata. The Toka-san festival — centered on Enko-ji Temple and spreading through the

Festival Kinki S

毎年8月第2土曜

Shanshan Festival: Ten Thousand Bells in Tottori

Central Tottori City, Tottori

The sound comes before the sight. Thousands of bells, each attached to a paper umbrella, producing a collective shimmer

Festival Hokkaido S

毎年1月下旬〜3月中旬

Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival

Sounkyo Onsen, Kamikawa, Hokkaido

In January, something is built in the gorge. The canyon walls of Sounkyo become in winter the frame for an ice festival

Festival Kyushu M

毎年12月第2土曜日前後

Miyakonojo Shiwasu Festival: The Year's End Fire

Miyakonojo City and Kirishima Shrine, Miyazaki

In December, the gods descend from Kirishima. The mountain shrine complex holds its year-end grand festival, and Miyakon

Festival Tohoku A

毎年2月中旬の金・土

Aizu Painted Candle Festival

Tsurugajo Castle and Oyakuen Garden, Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima

They are painted with flowers — peonies, chrysanthemums, the blossoms of seasons not yet arrived. Each February these Ai

Festival Tohoku M

毎年5月3〜5日

Mizusawa Fujiwara Festival: Heian Pageant of the North

Mizusawa, Oshu City, Iwate

The Oshu Fujiwara clan built their capital in Hiraizumi — a northern court to rival Kyoto, some said, at the edge of the

Festival Kanto N

毎年4月13〜17日

Nikko Yayoi Festival: Spring Floats of the Sacred Mountain

Futarasan Shrine, Nikko, Tochigi

Nikko is usually encountered through its excess. The Toshogu shrine — built to enshrine the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu — is

Festival Chubu H

毎年4月19・20日

Hida Furukawa Festival: The Drums Before Dawn

Keta Wakamiya Shrine, Furukawa, Hida City, Gifu

The drumming begins at three in the morning. This is the essential fact of the Furukawa Festival: it starts before dawn,

Festival Other T

毎年10月第2土・日

Tsushima Izuhara Hachiman Festival: Between Two Countries

Izuhara Hachimangu Shrine, Tsushima City, Nagasaki

On a clear day from Tsushima's highest points, you can see the Korean peninsula — not a distant shimmer but the actual o

Festival Okinawa M

旧暦12月頃（日程非公表）

Miyakojima Paantu: The God Who Marks You

Ueno Nohara, Miyakojima City, Okinawa

The deity appears from the forest covered in mud — thick, ancient mud drawn from a sacred well. Paantu moves through the

Festival Kanto S

毎年7月（本祭）・10月（秋祭）

Sawara Grand Festival: Floats on the Waterway

Suwa Shrine / Yasaka Shrine, Sawara, Katori City, Chiba

The floats barely fit through the streets. This is the defining experience of the Sawara Grand Festival: watching a stru

Festival Tohoku N

毎年8月6・7日

Noshiro Tanabata: Towers of Light in Akita

Noshiro City, Akita

Twenty-four meters. That is the height of the largest lantern tower that moves through the streets of Noshiro on the nig

Festival Kyushu F

毎年8月第1土曜

Funai Senshi: Oita's Night of Warrior Floats

Chuo-dori, Oita City, Oita

Oita was once called Funai, and the city carries this history with ease. The Funai Senshi festival reclaims the old iden

Festival Okinawa Y

旧暦6〜7月（島によって異なる）

Yaeyama Hoonen-sai: Harvest Offerings at the Edge of Japan

Ishigaki City and Taketomi Town, Okinawa (held on individual islands)

In the Yaeyama islands — Japan's southwestern edge, closer to Taiwan than to Tokyo — each community holds its own harves

Market Chugoku D

毎朝（通年）

Dogo Onsen Morning Market

Dogo Yunomachi, Matsuyama, Ehime

Dogo Onsen is one of the oldest hot springs in Japan — old enough to appear in the Man'yoshu poetry anthology, old enoug

Market Kyushu Y

月〜土 8:00〜17:00頃（日曜・祝日定休）

Yanagibashi Market: Where Hakata's Chefs Begin Their Day

1 Haruyoshi, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City

Before the restaurants open, the chefs of Hakata come here. Yanagibashi Rengo-ichiba has been supplying Fukuoka's food i

Market Kanto S

不定期（月1〜2回）

Shimokitazawa Vintage Market: The Neighborhood as Archive

Around Shimokitazawa Station, Setagaya, Tokyo

Shimokitazawa is the neighborhood that Tokyo's musicians, actors, and writers moved to before they were successful, and

Market Chugoku M

4月〜11月の毎週日曜（早朝）

Matsue Morning Market: Mist on the Canal

Along Fukuro River, Matsue City, Shimane

The mist from Lake Shinji moves through Matsue before the city wakes. Matsue is built on water — canals, the Ōhashi Rive

Market Tohoku M

毎週土曜 15:00〜20:00（5月〜11月）

Morioka Zaimokucho Evening Market: The City's Living Room

Zaimokucho, Morioka City, Iwate

On Saturday afternoons from May through November, the Zaimokucho district of Morioka becomes something between a market

Market Tohoku S

毎週土曜（早朝〜午前中）

Sendai Wholesale Market: Open to Everyone on Saturdays

Oroshimachi, Wakabayashi-ku, Sendai, Miyagi

The Sendai wholesale market operates six days a week supplying the city's restaurants and hotels. On Saturday mornings,

Market Tohoku N

週末・祝日（4月〜11月）

Nasu Kogen Farmers Market: The New Countryside

Nasu Town, Nasu-gun, Tochigi

The farmers at the Nasu Kogen market did not all grow up farming. A significant portion moved here from Tokyo — people w

Market Okinawa I

毎日（通年）

Ishigaki Euglena Mall: The Kitchen of the Yaeyamas

Near Ishigaki Public Market, Okawa, Ishigaki City, Okinawa

Before the ferry to Taketomi or Iriomote or any of the outer Yaeyama islands, stop at the market. The covered arcade nea

Market Chubu K

毎月第1日曜（早朝〜午前中）

Kasugai Mitake Onsen Morning Market: First Sunday of Every Month

Mitake Onsen grounds, Uchinai, Kasugai City, Aichi

Once a month, on the first Sunday, the grounds of Mitake Onsen in Kasugai become a morning market. Farmers from the surr

Market Kyushu A

週末・祝日（通年）

Aoshima Morning Market

Aoshima, Miyazaki City, Miyazaki

Miyazaki grows mangoes that the rest of Japan considers luxury items. At the morning market near Aoshima Shrine, they ar

Market Chugoku K

毎月第1日曜

Kurashiki Bikan Quarter Craft Market

Honmachi, Kurashiki City, Okayama

Kurashiki's Bikan district is one of Japan's most photographed historic streetscapes — white-walled warehouses reflected

Market Kinki K

不定期（月1〜2回）

Kobe Kitano Antique Market

Kitanocho, Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo

Kobe's Kitano district was built for the foreign traders who arrived after the port opened in the 1860s. Their houses —

Market Hokkaido H

通年（夏〜秋に屋外マルシェ開催）

Hakodate Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse Marché

14-12 Suehirocho, Hakodate City, Hokkaido

The Kanemori warehouses were built for trade when Hakodate was Japan's first major port to open to the West. They are re

Market Hokkaido A

通年（早朝〜午前中）

Asahikawa Asappa Farm Direct Market

Kagura, Asahikawa City, Hokkaido

The Tokachi plain to the south and the Kamikawa basin that surrounds Asahikawa are among Japan's most productive agricul

Market Chugoku H

不定期（月1〜2回）

Hiroshima Asagiri Bridge Flea Market

Along Motoyasu River, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City

The market runs along the Motoyasu River, within sight of the Atomic Bomb Dome. This proximity is not ironic; it is simp

Market Okinawa T

通年（各工房が常設営業）

Tsuboya Yachimun Street: Okinawa's Living Pottery District

Tsuboya, Naha City, Okinawa

Yachimun is the Okinawan word for pottery, and Tsuboya is where it has been made for three hundred years. The district s

Market Kyushu N

不定期（月1〜2回）

Nagasaki Megane-bashi Bridge Flea Market

Along Nakashima River near Megane-bashi, Nagasaki City

The Megane-bashi — the Spectacles Bridge, named for the double arch reflected in the water — was built in 1634 by Chines

Gathering Chugoku I

通年（2〜4月初旬に架け替えあり）

Iya Kazurabashi: The Vine Bridge of the Hidden Valley

162-2 Zentoku, Nishi-Iyayama, Miyoshi City, Tokushima

The bridge is made entirely of mountain vines, woven and suspended over a gorge that drops fourteen meters to the river

Gathering Kinki A

3月下旬〜4月上旬（菜の花）、10月（コスモス）

Asuka Fujiwara Palace Ruins: A Field of Canola in Spring

Takadono, Kashihara City, Nara

The Fujiwara Palace was Japan's first permanent capital, built in 694 and abandoned thirty years later when the court mo

Gathering Tohoku T

通年（フェリーで約50分）

Tashirojima: The Island That Belongs to Cats

Tashirojima, Ishinomaki City, Miyagi

The human population of Tashirojima is roughly sixty, most of them elderly. The cat population is comparable. The cats a

Gathering Chugoku I

旧暦10月（神在月）

Izumo Taisha: The Month When All Gods Arrive

195 Kizukihigashi, Taisha-cho, Izumo City, Shimane

In the tenth month of the lunar calendar, Japan's eight million gods converge on Izumo. The rest of the country calls th

Gathering Kinki I

通年（月曜休）

Inujima Art Project: Ruins as Canvas

Inujima, Higashi-ku, Okayama City, Okayama

Inujima had a copper refinery that operated for just a decade before closing in 1919, leaving behind smokestacks and fur

Gathering Shikoku S

4月〜10月（通年催行あり）

Shimanto River Canoe Experience

Shimanto City and Shimanto Town, Kochi

The Shimanto is called Japan's last truly clear river, and the description is precise: no large dams interrupt its flow

Gathering Chubu T

4月中旬〜6月下旬

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route: The Snow Corridor

Murodo, Tateyama Alpine Route, Toyama

Each spring, Japan turns a snow-removal project into a pilgrimage. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, threading the North

Gathering Chugoku M

旧暦6月17日（毎年）

Miyajima Kangen-sai: Court Music on the Sea

Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima, Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima

The deity of Itsukushima Shrine travels by boat. On the evening of the Kangen-sai, a procession of vessels carrying musi

Gathering Kyushu A

通年（火山活動状況により立入制限あり）

Aso Kusasenri: The Grassland at the Volcano's Edge

Kusasenrigahama, Aso City, Kumamoto

The Aso caldera is one of the largest in the world, and Kusasenri sits inside it — a circular meadow on the flank of an

Gathering Hokkaido B

6月〜9月（メインシーズン）

Biei Panorama Hill Cycling Tour

Biei Town, Kamikawa, Hokkaido

The hills of Biei roll in long slow curves — wheat fields giving way to potato fields giving way to sunflower fields, th

Gathering Chubu G

通年（12月〜3月は冬季ライトアップあり）

Gero Onsen Gassho Village

2369 Mori, Gero City, Gifu

Gero is one of Japan's three most celebrated hot spring towns, which means most visitors come for the baths and leave wi

Gathering Other R

通年（8:30〜17:00）

Ryusendo Cave: Underground Lake of Iwate

1-1 Kannari, Iwaizumi-cho, Shimohei-gun, Iwate

Deep inside the mountain, the cave opens into a lake. The water is so clear that the measured visibility exceeds ninety-

Workshop Chubu E

通年（要予約）

Echizen Washi: Making Paper in a Valley That Has Made Paper for 1,500 Years

8-44 Shizaike, Echizen City, Fukui

The Echizen valley has been making paper for fifteen hundred years — a claim that sounds like marketing until you see th

Workshop Kinki B

通年（各窯元により異なる）

Bizen Yaki: Touching a Thousand-Year-Old Tradition

Imbe, Bizen City, Okayama

Bizen ware uses no glaze and no painted decoration. The colors — the ash glazes that form naturally, the flame marks, th

Workshop Kyushu I

通年（砂蒸し会館 砂楽）

Ibusuki Sand Bath: Being Buried by the Volcanic Earth

5-25-18 Yunohama, Ibusuki City, Kagoshima

You lie down on the beach in a yukata. The attendant begins to cover you with sand — dark volcanic sand, naturally heate

Workshop Chubu M

通年（各体験施設による）

Mino Ware: Shaping the Dishes Japan Eats From

Hisashiri, Izumi, Toki City, Gifu

Sixty percent of Japan's ceramic tableware comes from the Mino region — the dishes in most Japanese restaurants, the cup

Workshop Okinawa R

通年（要予約の場合あり）

Ryukyu Glass: Blowing Something Beautiful from Broken Bottles

Nishizaki, Itoman City, Okinawa

After the war, there was glass everywhere — bottles discarded by American military bases. Okinawan craftspeople melted t

Workshop Kyushu K

通年（各工房により異なる）

Kurume Kasuri: Weaving with Indigo-Dyed Thread

Kurume City, Fukuoka

Kurume kasuri begins with thread. Specifically, with thread that has been bound at intervals before dyeing — the bound s

Workshop Kanto E

通年（各工房により異なる）

Edo Kiriko: Cutting Glass the Way Tokyo Once Did

Sumida-ku / Koto-ku, Tokyo

The grinding wheel turns, and you press the glass against it. The glass resists, then yields — a shallow cut forming, ca

Workshop Kanto Y

通年（要予約）

Yuki Tsumugi: Threading the Oldest Silk Loom in Japan

Yuki City, Ibaraki

Yuki tsumugi begins with the cocoon. The silk is drawn by hand from the cocoons, spun by hand into thread, and woven on

Workshop Kyushu O

通年（各窯元により異なる）

Onta Yaki: Pottery at a Mill-Powered Kiln

Sarayama, Motosakae, Hita City, Oita

Nine kilns. That is all there are, and all there will be. The Sarayama valley in the mountains above Hita City has produ

Workshop Chubu S

通年（各体験施設による）

Shigaraki Yaki: Firing a Kiln That Has Burned for Eight Centuries

Shigaraki-cho, Koka City, Shiga

Shigaraki is known throughout Japan for one thing: the ceramic raccoon dogs that stand outside restaurants and shops, ar

Workshop Shikoku T

通年（要予約）

Tosa Washi: Making Paper at the Source of Japan's Finest

Ino Town, Agawa-gun, Kochi

Tosa washi is made from the water of the Niyodo River system — one of the clearest rivers in Japan, running from the lim

Workshop Kyushu A

通年（体験事業者により異なる）

Amakusa Pottery Stone: Finding the Material That Made Arita Famous

Amakusa City, Kumamoto

The whiteness of Arita porcelain comes from here. Amakusa pottery stone — a white mineral found in the islands of wester

Workshop Kinki A

通年（各工房により異なる）

Awa Ai: Dyeing with Japan's Most Famous Indigo

Tokushima City and Yoshinogawa river valley, Tokushima

The Yoshino River valley in Tokushima was once Japan's largest indigo-producing region, supplying the blue that dyed the

Workshop Kyushu S

通年（要予約）

Satsuma Kiriko: The Glass That Disappeared and Returned

Kagoshima City, Kagoshima

Satsuma kiriko was invented in the 1840s by the Satsuma domain, which brought in European glassworkers to develop a luxu

Workshop Chubu W

通年（各工房の復旧状況による）

Wajima Chinkin: Engraving Gold into Lacquer After the Earthquake

Wajima City, Ishikawa

The January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake damaged Wajima severely — buildings collapsed, fires spread through the histo

Workshop Chubu K

通年（各体験施設による）

Kiso Lacquerware: Painting with Tree Sap in a Postroad Town

Narai, Shiojiri City / Kisomura, Nagano

The Kiso Valley was a section of the Nakasendo — one of the two great highways between Edo and Kyoto — and its post town

Workshop Chugoku I

通年（各体験施設による）

Imabari Towel: Dyeing at the Source of Japan's Finest Cotton

Imabari City, Ehime

Imabari produces more towels than anywhere else in Japan, and has been producing them since the late nineteenth century

Residency Kinki N

通年（要事前申込）

Nishiawakura: Living the Rural Revival From the Inside

Nishiawakura Village, Aida-gun, Okayama

Nishiawakura Village has a population of roughly fifteen hundred and a reputation, among people interested in rural rege

Residency Hokkaido T

6月〜9月（メインシーズン）

Tokachi Farmstay: Sleeping in Japan's Bread Basket

Otofuke and Obihiro area, Tokachi, Hokkaido

The Tokachi plain is Japan's agricultural heartland — wheat, potatoes, dairy, sugar beet, production at a scale that the

Residency Kinki K

通年

Kamiyama: The Village That Reinvented Itself for Remote Work

Kamiyama Town, Myozai-gun, Tokushima

Kamiyama is a small mountain town in Tokushima with a population under two thousand and a reputation, in certain circles

Residency Chubu O

通年

Obuse: The Small Town That Chose Art and Kept Its Soul

Obuse Town, Kamitakai-gun, Nagano

Obuse is a town of ten thousand people in northern Nagano, and it receives more visitors than a town of that size would

Residency Chugoku O

通年

Ohnan: Where Japan's Countryside Is Trying Something New

Ohnan Town, Ochi-gun, Shimane

Ohnan Town in the mountains of Shimane has a population under ten thousand and a food-based regeneration strategy that h

Residency Shikoku T

通年（天候・漁期による）

Tosa Shimizu: A Few Days in the Life of a Fisherman

Tosa Shimizu City, Kochi

The fishing boats leave before dawn. The catch depends on the season, the weather, and the skill of the crew. The market

Residency Tohoku G

通年

Gojome: Half Farming, Half Whatever You Want to Be

Gojome Town, Minamiakita-gun, Akita

The concept of han-nou han-X — half farming, half whatever else you want to do — was developed as a philosophy of rural

Residency Kinki W

通年

Wakasa: Sleeping in a Farmhouse That Someone Brought Back to Life

Wakasa Town, Mikata-kami-gun, Fukui

The farmhouses of the Wakasa Town area have been standing for generations — thick-beamed structures built for the winter

Residency Kyushu A

通年

Aya: Japan's Organic Farming Pioneer

Aya Town, Higashi-Morokata-gun, Miyazaki

Aya Town began its commitment to organic agriculture in the 1980s — a decision by the town government, supported by loca

Residency Kyushu O

通年

Ojika Island: A Slow Life on Japan's Most Beautiful Rural Inn

Ojika Town, Kitamatsuura-gun, Nagasaki

Ojika Island sits in the northern part of the Goto archipelago, more than three hours by ferry from Sasebo. The journey

Residency Tohoku T

通年

Tono: Sleeping Inside Japan's Most Famous Folktale Landscape

Tono City, Iwate

Tono is the setting of Yanagita Kunio's 'Legends of Tono,' published in 1910 — a collection of folktales gathered from l

Residency Hokkaido H

通年

Higashikawa: The Town That Grows Furniture and People

Higashikawa Town, Kamikawa-gun, Hokkaido

Higashikawa Town's population has been growing while most of rural Hokkaido's has been declining. The reasons are multip

Residency Kyushu M

通年

Minami-Oguni: Long Stay in Japan's Most Beloved Onsen Village

Minami-Oguni Town, Aso-gun, Kumamoto

Kurokawa Onsen sits in a narrow valley in the mountains of South Oguni, a small town in the Aso region of Kumamoto. The

Residency Tohoku T

通年

Tsuruoka: Japan's UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy

Tsuruoka City, Yamagata

Tsuruoka has more than two hundred varieties of heirloom vegetables — crops that have been cultivated in this region for

Residency Shikoku U

通年

Uchiko: Living in a Town That Decided to Stay Itself

Uchiko Town, Kita-gun, Ehime

Uchiko's main historic street survived the twentieth century largely intact because the town made a series of decisions,

Residency Chubu S

通年

Sado Island: Where Gold, Noh, and Terraced Rice Fields Meet

Sado City, Niigata

Sado Island sits in the Sea of Japan off the Niigata coast, large enough to have its own distinct geography — a northern

Residency Other A

通年

Amami Oshima: Music and Jungle at the Edge of the Tropics

Amami City and Yamato Village, Kagoshima

Amami Oshima is not Okinawa and not the Japanese mainland; it is the largest island of an archipelago with its own disti

Residency Okinawa K

通年

Kudaka Island: The Island at the Center of Ryukyuan Spiritual Life

Kudaka Island, Nanjo City, Okinawa

Kudaka Island is five square kilometers, accessible by ferry from the southern Okinawa coast, home to roughly two hundre

Residency Chubu I

通年（公演は主に春〜秋）

Iida: Where Every Village Has Its Own Puppet Theater

Iida City, Nagano

Iida City in southern Nagano is said to have more than two hundred puppet theater groups distributed across its villages

Residency Chugoku H

通年

Hagi: Living in the Town That Made Modern Japan

Hagi City, Yamaguchi

The men who made the Meiji Restoration were disproportionately from Hagi. Yoshida Shoin, whose private academy produced

Festival Tohoku K

毎年8月第1金〜日（みちのく芸能まつり）

Kitakami Oni Kenbai: The Demon Sword Dance of Iwate

Kitakami City, Iwate

The dancers wear the masks of demons and carry swords, and the dance they perform is fast, percussive, and formally stru

Festival Tohoku O

毎年4月上旬〜中旬（桜の開花に合わせる）

Okawara Hitome Senbon Zakura: A Thousand Cherry Trees in One Glance

Shiroishi River embankment, Ogawara Town, Shibata-gun, Miyagi

The name means 'a thousand trees visible in a single glance,' and along the eight kilometers of the Shiroishi River emba

Festival Tohoku T

毎年4月下旬（さくらまつり期間中）

Tendo Human Shogi: Living Pieces on a Giant Board

Maizuruyama Park, Tendo City, Yamagata

Tendo produces more shogi pieces than anywhere else in Japan, and the Human Shogi festival is the city's annual celebrat

Festival Tohoku S

毎年12月上旬〜31日

Sendai Pageant of Starlight: Six Hundred Thousand Lights in Zelkova Trees

Jozenji-dori Avenue, Aoba-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi

The zelkova trees that line Jozenji-dori, Sendai's most elegant boulevard, are bare in December. From early in the month

Festival Kyushu U

毎年4月第3金〜日

Ushibuka Haiya Festival: The Dance That Crossed the Sea

Ushibuka, Amakusa City, Kumamoto

The Haiya dance originated among the fishermen of Ushibuka, at the southern tip of the Amakusa islands. The boats that f

Festival Kyushu O

毎年10月第3土・日

Obi Jokamachi Festival: The Little Kyoto of Kyushu

Obi, Nichinan City, Miyazaki

Obi is called the Little Kyoto of Kyushu, and the designation is more accurate than most such nicknames. The castle town

Festival Kyushu C

毎年2月下旬〜3月上旬

Chiran Hina Matsuri: Samurai Town Dolls

Chiran Town, Minami-Kyushu City, Kagoshima

The samurai district of Chiran — stone-walled garden paths, carefully maintained machiya houses, one of the best-preserv

Festival Other T

年数回（旧正月・敬老の日ほか）

Tokunoshima Bullfighting: Where Bulls Compete, Not Matadors

Tokunoshima Island, Oshima-gun, Kagoshima

Tokunoshima's bullfighting is not the Spanish kind. The bulls fight each other, not a human opponent, and the match ends

Festival Chubu O

毎年9月第3土・日

Oiwake Shukuba Matsuri: The Post Town That Still Knows Its Songs

Oiwake, Karuizawa Town, Kitasaku-gun, Nagano

Oiwake sits at the junction of the Nakasendo highway and the Hokkoku Kaido, one of the branching points in Edo Japan's r

Festival Hokkaido O

通年（週末・祝日が中心）

Obihiro Banei Racing: The Only Draft Horse Race in the World

Obihiro Racecourse, Nishi-13-jo Minami 9, Obihiro City, Hokkaido

Banei racing exists nowhere else in the world. The horses are draft breeds — heavy, powerful, built for pulling rather t

Festival Kinki I

通年（舟屋日和などのイベントは季節限定）

Ine Funaya: Houses That Open Directly onto the Sea

Ine Town, Yosa-gun, Kyoto

The funaya of Ine Bay are houses built directly over the water, with their ground floors serving as garages for fishing

Festival Chubu O

毎年4月第3日曜前後

Okazaki Ieyasu Festival: The Birthplace of the Edo Shogunate

Okazaki Park and surrounding area, Okazaki City, Aichi

Tokugawa Ieyasu was born in Okazaki Castle in 1543. From this starting point, he navigated the chaos of the Sengoku peri

Festival Chubu H

毎年5月3〜5日

Hamamatsu Kite Festival: One Hundred and Seventy Teams in the Sky

Nakatajima Sand Dunes and Hamamatsu Castle Park, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka

The Hamamatsu kite festival began as a private celebration — families flying kites to announce the birth of a child, the

Festival Kanto O

毎年5月3日

Odawara Hojo Godai Matsuri: Five Generations of Outsider Power

Odawara City, Kanagawa

The Later Hojo clan governed the Kanto region from Odawara for five generations, from the early sixteenth century until

Festival Chubu N

毎年1月15日

Nozawa Onsen Dosojin Matsuri: The Fire Festival of Midwinter

Nozawa Onsen Village, Shimotakai-gun, Nagano

On the evening of January 15th, in the snow of the northern Nagano mountains, a large wooden structure built by the youn

Festival Chubu M

毎年10月第1土曜

Matsumoto Jidai Matsuri: Four Centuries of Castle Town History Walking

Around Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto City, Nagano

Matsumoto Castle's keep is black — unusual in Japanese castle architecture, which more commonly tends toward white — and

Festival Chugoku D

毎年8月第3土曜

Daisen Hi Matsuri: Fire at the Foot of the Sacred Mountain

Around Daisen-ji Temple, Daisen Town, Saihaku-gun, Tottori

Daisen is the highest mountain in the Chugoku region — a dormant volcano with a shape that has led it to be called the F

Festival Chugoku H

毎年12月第4土曜

Hofu Hadakamairi: Bare-Chested Pilgrimage in Midwinter

Hofu Tenmangu Shrine, Hofu City, Yamaguchi

On the fourth Saturday of December, after midnight, men in white loincloths and bare feet walk the approach to Hofu Tenm

Festival Shikoku U

毎年7月22〜24日

Uwajima Ushi-oni: The Sea Monster Procession of Southern Shikoku

Warei Shrine, Uwajima City, Ehime

The ushi-oni is a creature specific to this region of western Shikoku: part bull, part demon, part sea serpent, the prec

Market Tohoku H

4月〜11月（定期開催）

Hirosaki Dote no Ichi: The Market That Outlasted the Feudal Doma

Dotecho shopping district, Hirosaki City, Aomori

Hirosaki is the center of Japan's apple-growing region, and the market at Dotecho brings this fact into the city with a

Market Tohoku Y

9月第1日曜（山形市の大鍋）、9月全般は各地で芋煮会

Yamagata Imoni-kai: River Bank Stew as Community Ritual

Mamigasaki River bank, Yamagata City, Yamagata

Each September, the riverbanks of Yamagata fill with smoke. Groups of friends, colleagues, and families set up gas burne

Market Tohoku A

毎週日曜（通年）

Aizu Nanukamaichi Morning Market: Two Hundred Years on the Same Street

Nanukamaichi, Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima

The Nanukamaichi morning market has been running every Sunday for more than two hundred years, which means it has contin

Market Kanto O

毎月第1・第3土曜（不定期あり）

Omiya Hikawa Shrine Antique Market: Sacred Ground, Old Things

Musashi Ichinomiya Hikawa Shrine, Omiya-ku, Saitama City, Saitama

The approach to Hikawa Shrine extends for more than two kilometers through Omiya — a zelkova-lined path that is one of t

Market Kanto Y

季節ごとに開催（春・秋が中心）

Yokohama Yamashita Park Marché: Port City Produce by the Sea

Yamashita Park, Naka-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa

Yamashita Park runs along the Yokohama waterfront, with the passenger ship terminal visible to the north and the bay ope

Festival Kanto S

2026年7月25日（土）19:00〜20:30

Sumida River Fireworks Festival

Sumida River, Sumida/Taito, Tokyo

The river remembers. Long before the towers rose along its banks, before the trains and the neon, the Sumida carried boa

Festival Kanto E

2026年8月1日（土）19:15〜20:30

Edogawa Fireworks Festival

Edogawa Riverbank, Edogawa, Tokyo

It begins before you are ready. In the first five seconds, a thousand shells erupt at once—an opening so audacious that

Festival Chubu G

2026年8月上旬（例年8月第1土曜前後）

Gifu Nagaragawa Fireworks Festival

Nagara River, Gifu City, Gifu

Fire falls on the river of the cormorant fishermen. The Nagara is one of Japan's clearest rivers, famous for the ancient

Festival Kinki N

2026年8月中旬（例年8月上旬〜中旬）

Naniwa Yodogawa Fireworks Festival

Yodo River, Osaka

The people made this one themselves. The Yodogawa fireworks began in 1989 not as a municipal project but as a grassroots

Festival Kinki H

2026年7月下旬（例年7月）

Himeji Minato Festival Sea Fireworks

Himeji Port, Himeji, Hyogo

This is the sea festival of the city of the white castle. Himeji is crowned by its great fortress—a World Heritage site,

Festival Chubu N

2026年8月上旬（例年8月上旬）

North Lake Biwa Grand Fireworks Festival

Nagahama Port, Nagahama, Shiga

Fire reflects in the largest lake in Japan. Lake Biwa is vast—an inland sea in all but name—and on its northern shore, f

Festival Kanto A

2026年4月〜12月の指定日（年間複数回開催）

Atami Sea Fireworks Festival

Atami Bay, Atami, Shizuoka

The fireworks thunder at the bottom of a bowl. Atami is a hot-spring town wedged between mountains and sea, and its bay

Festival Kanto O

2026年7月下旬〜8月（例年夏季）

Oarai Sea Fireworks Festival

Oarai Sun Beach, Oarai, Ibaraki

Fireworks stand up against the Pacific. Oarai is a seaside town on the Ibaraki coast, and what opens before it is the gr

Festival Kanto T

2026年7月中旬（例年7月）

Tonegawa Grand Fireworks Festival

Tone River, Sakai, Ibaraki

This is the grand stage of Bando Taro. That was the old name for the Tone River—"Bando Taro," the eldest son of the east

Festival Tohoku S

2026年8月5日（水）19:00〜20:00

Sendai Tanabata Fireworks Festival

Nishikoen, Hirose River, Sendai, Miyagi

This is the eve of the festival of paper wishes. The Sendai Tanabata—one of the three great festivals of the Tohoku nort

Festival Hokkaido H

2026年8月中旬（例年8月）

Hokkaido Shimbun Summer Fireworks

Toyohira River, Sapporo, Hokkaido

These are fireworks for a cool summer. Sapporo's warm season is brief, and that brevity makes it precious. Along the ban

Festival Kinki S

2026年8月10日（例年8月10日前後）

Shirahama Fireworks Festival

Shirarahama Beach, Shirahama, Wakayama

On the white sand, you wait for the fireworks. Shirahama in southern Wakayama has one of the most beautiful beaches in J

Festival Okinawa O

2026年7月中旬（例年7月）

Okinawa Kanasa Fireworks

Ginowan Seaside Park, Ginowan, Okinawa

"Kanasa" means beloved. In the Okinawan language, kanasan is the word for something dear, something cherished—and the fi

Festival Kanto K

2026年10月上旬（例年10月）

Konosu Fireworks Festival

Arakawa Riverbank, Konosu, Saitama

The largest shell in the world rises here. Konosu, on the wide gravel banks of the Arakawa River in Saitama, ends its di

Festival Kinki M

2026年8月16日（例年8月16日）

Miyazu Lantern Float Fireworks Festival

Miyazu Bay, Miyazu, Kyoto

Here lanterns and fireworks overlap on the sea. Miyazu Bay is known for Amanohashidate, the pine-covered sandbar counted

Festival Chubu T

2026年7月中旬（例年7月）

Toyohashi Gion Festival Hand-Held Fireworks

Yoshida Shrine, Toyohashi, Aichi

Here a man holds the fireworks in his arms. The tezutsu is a hand-held firework—gunpowder packed into a length of bamboo

Festival Kinki A

2026年8月中旬（阿波おどり前夜・例年8月）

Awa Odori Eve Fireworks Festival

Shinmachi River, Tokushima City

This is the eve of the dancing fools. "The dancers are fools and the watchers are fools," goes the famous chant of the A

Festival Kinki T

2026年8月中旬（例年8月）

Takamatsu Festival Fireworks

Sunport Takamatsu, Takamatsu, Kagawa

Fire opens over the Seto sea. Takamatsu, capital of Kagawa on the island of Shikoku, is a port town facing the Inland Se

Festival Chugoku M

2026年8月中旬（例年8月）

Matsuyama Festival Fireworks

Shigenobu River, Matsuyama, Ehime

In the town of the Dogo hot spring, you watch the fireworks. Matsuyama, the largest city on Shikoku, is home to Dogo Ons

Festival Shikoku T

2026年8月上旬（よさこい祭り前夜・例年8月）

Tosa Kochi Fireworks Festival

Kagamigawa River, Kochi City

This is the herald of the Yosakoi. Kochi—the old province of Tosa—is the home of the Yosakoi festival, where dancers cla

Festival Kyushu O

2026年7月下旬（例年7月）

Omuta Djaiyama Festival Fireworks

Suwa River, Omuta, Fukuoka

This is the summer when the great serpent breathes fire. Omuta in Fukuoka was once a coal-mining town, one of the engine

Festival Kyushu N

2026年7月下旬（例年7月）

Nagasaki Minato Festival Sea Fireworks

Nagasaki Port, Nagasaki

Fire reflects in a foreign-touched harbor. Nagasaki was, during Japan's centuries of self-imposed isolation, the single

Festival Kyushu K

2026年8月下旬（例年8月）

Kagoshima Kinkowan Summer Night Fireworks

Kinkowan Bay, Kagoshima City

Fireworks rise before a mountain of fire. Across Kinkowan Bay from Kagoshima stands Sakurajima—an active volcano that st

Festival Okinawa N

2026年（例年・秋〜冬の開催あり）

Naha Okinawa Fireworks Festival

Naminoue Beach, Naha, Okinawa

Fire falls on a southern sea. Naha was once the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom—an independent island nation with its own

Festival Tohoku Y

2026年8月初旬（花笠まつり前後・例年8月）

Yamagata Hanagasa Festival Fireworks

Mamigasaki River, Yamagata City

This is the summer of the flower hats. The Hanagasa Festival fills the streets of Yamagata with dancers holding straw ha

Festival Chubu S

2026年7月下旬（例年夏季）

Shirako Beach Fireworks Festival

Shirako Beach, Suzuka, Mie

Fire scatters over the Ise sea. Shirako, part of Suzuka in Mie, is a seaside town on Ise Bay—a place of craftsmen, famou

Festival Tohoku O

2026年8月（例年夏季）

Okitama Fireworks Festival

Mogami River, Yonezawa, Yamagata

Fireworks rise over the town of the Uesugi. Yonezawa was the castle seat of Uesugi Yozan, one of the most admired lords

craft Kinki K

通年（要予約・工房により異なる）

Kyoto Kiyomizuyaki Pottery Experience

Gojozaka, Higashiyama, Kyoto City, Kyoto

You touch the clay of a thousand-year-old capital. Along the slopes climbing toward Kiyomizu Temple, the pottery known a

craft Chubu T

通年（要予約・工房により異なる）

Tsubame-Sanjo Metal Crafts Experience

Tsubame-Sanjo, Niigata

You step into a town that makes things. Tsubame-Sanjo, two neighboring cities in Niigata, is a metalworking center known

craft Tohoku K

通年（要予約・工房により異なる）

Kakunodate Cherry Bark Craft Experience

Bukeyashiki-dori, Kakunodate, Semboku, Akita

Cherry bark becomes treasure here. Kakunodate, a town of preserved samurai residences sometimes called "the little Kyoto

craft Kanto N

通年（要予約・工房により異なる）

Nikko-bori Wood Carving Experience

Nikko City, Tochigi

You become heir to the hands that carved Toshogu. The Nikko Toshogu shrine, with its dazzling sculptures—the sleeping ca

craft Chubu M

通年（要予約）

Mino Washi Papermaking Experience

Washi no Sato Kaikan, Mino City, Gifu

You make paper that has been made for thirteen hundred years. In Mino, a town of clear rivers in Gifu, the craft of wash

craft Chubu K

通年（要予約）

Kaga Yuzen Dyeing Experience

Nagamachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa

You dye the colors of old Kaga. Kanazawa, seat of the wealthy Maeda lords who ruled the Kaga domain, nurtured its own st

craft Okinawa R

通年（要予約・工房により異なる）

Ryukyu Bingata Dyeing Experience

Shuri, Naha, Okinawa

These are the vivid colors of a southern island. Bingata is the brilliant dyeing tradition born of the Ryukyu Kingdom—ye

craft Chubu S

通年（要予約・施設により異なる）

Seki Blade Sharpening Experience

Hamono Kaikan, Seki City, Gifu

You touch the blade in the city of swords. Seki has made cutting tools for seven hundred years—once the producer of lege

craft Chugoku K

通年（要予約・筆の里工房）

Kumano Fude Brush-Making Experience

Fude no Sato Kobo, Kumano, Hiroshima

These are the brushes that touch the world's faces. Kumano, a small town in the hills of Hiroshima, produces eighty perc

craft Chubu T

通年（要予約・工房により異なる）

Tokoname Yaki Pottery Experience

Tokoname Pottery Road, Tokoname, Aichi

You knead clay in a town of chimneys. Tokoname is one of the Six Ancient Kilns of Japan, a pottery town with a thousand

Gathering Kinki B

国立文楽劇場（大阪・日本橋）で、初春・春・夏・秋など年に数回の本公演。日程は公演により異なります。

Bunraku at the National Theatre Osaka

Three people to a single puppet. Bunraku, the puppet theatre that grew up in Osaka, works its central illusion through

Gathering Kinki A

阿波十郎兵衛屋敷で、ほぼ毎日（時間は季節により変動）の定期上演。詳細は施設にご確認ください。

Awa Puppet Theatre at Jurobei Yashiki

Puppet theatre, but the village kind. The puppet drama of Awa is not the refined Bunraku of the city but something that

Gathering Chubu S

例年初夏〜秋にかけて、島内各地の能舞台で薪能が上演されます。日程は会場により異なります。

Sado Firelight Noh

The island has more than thirty Noh stages. Sado was a place of exile, and the exiles brought the arts of the capital w

Gathering Kinki M

壬生寺で、例年春（4月～5月）と秋、節分などに上演される無言の宗教劇。日程は年により異なります。

Mibu Kyogen

A kyogen with no voices. Mibu Kyogen has been performed at Mibu Temple in Kyoto for some seven hundred years, and its p

Gathering Chugoku I

石見地方（浜田・益田など）で、神社の祭礼や定期公演として夜を中心に上演されます。日程は会場により異なります。

Iwami Kagura Regular Performances

They dance all night. Iwami Kagura comes from the western end of Shimane, and it is at once a sacred rite and pure ente

Gathering Kanto S

小田原・厚木など神奈川県西部で、保存会により定期公演・神社祭礼で上演されます。日程は年により異なります。

Sagami Puppet Theatre

Puppet theatre, three to a figure. Sagami Ningyo is the puppet drama of western Kanagawa, around Odawara and Atsugi—the

Gathering Tohoku H

岩手・早池峰山麓（大償・岳）に伝わる神楽。例大祭や定期公演で奉納されます。日程は年により異なります。

Hayachine Kagura

A dance offered to the mountain god. Hayachine Kagura comes from the foot of Mount Hayachine in Iwate, bound up with th

Festival Kanto S

例年7月、七夕の時期に開催。豪華な竹飾りが商店街を埋めます。日程は年により異なります。

Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival

The sky disappears. At the Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata, the shopping streets are buried under enormous bamboo decorations

Festival Tohoku S

例年8月下旬に開催。豪華な山車（やたい）の行列。ユネスコ無形文化遺産。日程は年により異なります。

Shinjo Festival

The floats become stories. At the Shinjo Festival in late August, twenty floats called yatai move through the town, eac

Festival Kanto K

例年8月上旬に開催。八木節の踊りと演奏で町が沸きます。日程は年により異なります。

Kiryu Yagibushi Festival

They beat on barrels. At the Kiryu Yagibushi Festival in August, the whole town rings with yagibushi—empty barrels stru

Festival Chubu T

例年5月1日に開催。豪華絢爛な御車山（山車）の巡行。ユネスコ無形文化遺産。

Takaoka Mikurumayama Festival

Floats of lavish metalwork. At the Takaoka Mikurumayama Festival, on the first of May, seven floats process through a t

Festival Chubu N

例年4月中旬に開催。子ども歌舞伎を載せた曳山の巡行。ユネスコ無形文化遺産。日程は年により異なります。

Nagahama Hikiyama Festival

Children perform kabuki. At the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival in April, child kabuki is staged atop ornate floats—boys bet

Festival Kanto N

例年7月上旬の金土日に開催。山車・屋台の総引きなど。日程は年により異なります。

Narita Gion Festival

Floats race up the temple approach. At the Narita Gion Festival in July, ten floats and stalls parade before Naritasan

Festival Kyushu I

例年10月下旬に開催。荒神輿と団車のぶつかり合い。日程は年により異なります。

Imari Tontenton Festival

Portable shrine and float collide. At the Imari Tontenton Festival in October, a fighting shrine and a fighting float c

Festival Chubu S

例年4月上旬に開催。甲冑姿の武者行列「甲州軍団出陣」。日程は年により異なります。

Shingen-ko Festival

The army of the Takeda returns. At the Shingen-ko Festival in April, the streets of Kofu fill with armored warriors rec

Festival Kinki J

毎年10月22日（雨天順延）

Jidai Matsuri: Kyoto Walks Through Eleven Centuries

Kyoto Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine, Kyoto

On October 22nd, Kyoto walks through its own memory. The Jidai Matsuri—the Festival of the Ages—is a procession of some

Festival Kinki K

毎年10月22日

Kurama Fire Festival: A Corridor of Flame North of Kyoto

Around Yuki Shrine, Kurama, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto

On the same night Kyoto's grand costume procession ends, thirty minutes north by mountain railway, a very different cere

Festival Tohoku N

例年10月下旬〜11月上旬が見頃

Naruko Gorge in Autumn: A Canyon of Color and Hot Water

Naruko Gorge, Naruko Onsen, Osaki, Miyagi

Narukokyo is a gorge a hundred meters deep, cut by the Oya River through the mountains of northern Miyagi, and for two w

Festival Tohoku K

毎年9月7日〜9日

Kakunodate Festival: When the Samurai Town Collides

Central Kakunodate, Semboku, Akita

For most of the year, Kakunodate is the quietest kind of famous: a preserved samurai town in the Akita mountains, black

Festival Tohoku Y

毎年2月15日・16日

Yokote Kamakura Festival: Rooms Made of Winter

City hall area, Haguro-cho, and sites across Yokote, Akita

In Yokote, deep in the snow country of Akita, February brings rooms made of winter. Kamakura are snow huts, some three m

Festival Chubu T

例年2月中旬〜下旬の金・土・日曜（3日間）

Tokamachi Snow Festival: The Town That Invented Celebrating Snow

Central Tokamachi and sites across the city, Niigata

Tokamachi, in the mountains of Niigata, receives some of the heaviest snowfall of any city in the world—two meters stand

Gathering Kinki K

例年1月下旬〜2月上旬（約10日間）

Kobe Luminarie: Light That Began as Mourning

Meriken Park, Higashi Yuen park, and the former foreign settlement, Kobe

Kobe Luminarie began as an act of mourning. In December 1995, eleven months after the Great Hanshin Earthquake killed mo

Gathering Chubu N

例年10月中旬〜翌5月末

Nabana no Sato: Half a Year of Light Outside Nagoya

Nabana no Sato, Nagashima, Kuwana, Mie

Nabana no Sato is a flower park on the edge of Kuwana, between Nagoya and the sea, and for more than half the year—mid-a

Festival Kinki W

毎年1月第4土曜（荒天順延）

Wakakusa Yamayaki: The Night Nara Sets a Mountain on Fire

Mount Wakakusa and Nara Park, Nara

On the fourth Saturday of January, Nara sets a mountain on fire. Wakakusa-yama is the grass-covered hill that rises dire

Festival Tohoku H

毎年2月17日〜20日

Hachinohe Enburi: Going Out into the Snow to Call In Spring

Central Hachinohe and Chojasan Shinra Shrine, Aomori

In Hachinohe, on the snowbound Pacific coast of Aomori, spring does not arrive on its own. It has to be summoned. From F

Festival Hokkaido A

例年2月上旬（さっぽろ雪まつりとほぼ同時期・約1週間）

Asahikawa Winter Festival: The City That Built a World Record in Snow

Asahibashi riverside on the Ishikari River and Kaimono Koen, Asahikawa, Hokkaido

Asahikawa sits in the coldest basin of any major Japanese city—mornings of minus twenty are ordinary here—and every Febr

Festival Hokkaido L

例年1月下旬〜2月中旬

Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival: Ice Grown from a Lake That Never Freezes

Shikotsuko Onsen, Chitose, Hokkaido

Lake Shikotsu is a caldera lake south of Sapporo, among the clearest bodies of water in Japan and so deep that it never

Gathering Hokkaido M

毎年10月上旬

Marimo Festival

There is a lake in eastern Hokkaido where a certain kind of algae grows into perfect green spheres. They are called mari

Gathering Tohoku Z

毎年12月下旬〜2月下旬

Zao Snow Monster Illumination

On the slopes of Mount Zao, in the deep Tohoku winter, the trees turn into monsters. It happens when supercooled water d

Festival Kinki M

旧暦3月3日（例年4月上旬〜中旬、年により前後します）

Mochigase Nagashibina (Floating Doll Festival)

Mochigase, Tottori, Tottori

Before hina dolls stood on tiered platforms in family alcoves, they floated. In Mochigase, a former post town on the Sen

Festival Chubu A

毎年12月15日・16日

Akiha Fire Festival

841 Ryoke, Haruno-cho, Tenryu-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka

On the fifteenth and sixteenth of December, at the summit of a mountain north of Hamamatsu, Japan thinks hardest about f

Festival Chugoku W

毎年12月第1日曜

Waraiko Laughing Ritual

1143 Daido Omata, Hofu, Yamaguchi

In the farming hamlet of Omata, on the Seto Inland Sea side of Yamaguchi, grown men in formal crested kimono sit facing

Festival Kanto A

毎年12月第3日曜

Akutai Matsuri (Festival of Abuse)

102 Izumi, Kasama, Ibaraki

Once a year, on the third Sunday of December, it is not merely permitted but correct to hurl insults at a religious proc

Market Kanto S

12月・1月の15日・16日

Setagaya Boroichi Market

Boroichi-dori, Setagaya 1-chome, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo

Tokyo's oldest market is not in Tsukiji or Ueno but on a narrow street in residential Setagaya, and it happens on four f

Gathering Kinki T

12月中旬〜下旬

Tottori Sand Dunes Illusion

Tottori Sand Dunes, Fukube-cho, Tottori

Japan does winter illumination with industrial enthusiasm — every city has its tunnel of lights. What Tottori has, alone

Festival Kinki O

毎年3月2日

Omizu-okuri Water-Sending Rite

Jinguji Temple & Unose, Obama, Fukui

Nara's famous Omizu-tori — the water-drawing rite that ends winter at Todai-ji — has a sender, and the sender is here. E

Festival Kinki H

2月下旬〜3月3日

Hiketa Hina Doll Festival

Historic Hiketa townscape, Higashikagawa, Kagawa

At the far eastern edge of Kagawa, where Shikoku faces the narrow strait toward Awaji, the old soy-sauce town of Hiketa

Festival Chubu O

3月中旬の土日

Omihachiman Sagicho Festival

Himure Hachimangu, Omihachiman, Shiga

In mid-March, on the weekend nearest the 14th and 15th, the canal town of Omihachiman on Lake Biwa's eastern shore burns

Festival Kanto K

2月下旬〜3月3日

Katsuura Big Hina Festival

Tomisaki Shrine and central Katsuura, Chiba

Every morning during the festival, volunteers in Katsuura carry some 1,800 hina dolls up the sixty stone steps of Tomisa

Market Kanto S

毎年1月6日・7日

Shorinzan Daruma Market

Shorinzan Darumaji Temple, Takasaki, Gunma

The high point of this fair arrives at two o'clock in the morning. Shorinzan Darumaji, a Zen temple in the hills west of

Festival Chubu F

毎年5月1日・2日

Fukuno Yotaka Festival

Central Fukuno, Nanto, Toyama

On the nights of May 1 and 2, the small market town of Fukuno in the Tonami plain of Toyama fills with towering lanterns

Festival Other I

毎年6月24日

Izawanomiya Rice-Planting Festival

Izawanomiya Shrine, Isobe, Shima, Mie

On June 24 each year, in the rice country behind Shima's famous coastline, one of Japan's three great rice-planting fest

Festival Kanto I

5月下旬〜6月下旬

Itako Iris Festival

Suigo Itako Ayame Park, Itako, Ibaraki

The bride is real. That is the first thing to understand about Itako's iris festival, held from late May to late June in

Gathering Kanto A

10月中旬〜2月中旬

Ashikaga Flower Park Illumination

Ashikaga Flower Park, Ashikaga, Tochigi

Ashikaga Flower Park is famous for one tree: a 160-year-old wisteria whose canopy, each spring, draws visitors from arou

Festival Tohoku H

毎年3月10日

Hote Matsuri (Shiogama Rough Mikoshi)

Shiogama Jinja, Shiogama, Miyagi

On March 10 each year, a portable shrine weighing a full ton descends 202 stone steps. This is the Hote Matsuri of Shiog

Festival Kanto S

毎年3月9日

Saitosai Festival at Kashima Jingu

Kashima Jingu, Kashima, Ibaraki

The sound is the thing you remember: twenty squads of fifteen men in brilliant costume, singing an ancient refrain — iya

Market Kanto J

毎年3月3日・4日

Jindaiji Daruma Market

Jindaiji Temple, Chofu, Tokyo

Look closely at a daruma from Jindaiji and you will find that its left eye is not a black dot but a written character: t

Festival Kanto M

3月第2日曜

Mt. Takao Fire-Walking Festival

Yakuoin prayer grounds, Mt. Takao, Hachioji, Tokyo

Most festivals ask you to watch. This one, at the foot of Mt. Takao on the second Sunday of March, ends by inviting you

Festival Tohoku S

毎年12月31日〜元旦

Shoreisai (Haguro New Year's Eve Fire Rite)

Dewa Sanzan Shrine, Mt. Haguro, Tsuruoka, Yamagata

New Year's Eve on Mt. Haguro is examination day. Since September 24 — one hundred days — two yamabushi priests called ma

Festival Chubu T

12月上旬〜中旬

Toyama Shimotsuki Matsuri (Winter Kagura)

Shrines of the Toyama valley, Iida, Nagano

The blessing arrives as a splash of boiling water, flung at you by a masked god with his bare hand. In the Toyama valley

Gathering Chubu H

毎年12月1日〜2月頃

Himi Winter Yellowtail Fair

Himi fishing port and restaurants, Himi, Toyama

Himi, a fishing town on Toyama Bay, has something few food destinations possess: an official declaration of honesty. Eac

Festival Kanto O

毎年大晦日夜〜元旦

Oji Fox Parade

Shozoku Inari to Oji Inari Shrine, Kita-ku, Tokyo

There is an old Edo story that on New Year's Eve, foxes from all over the Kanto plain would gather beneath a great hackb

Festival Chubu H

11月上旬〜1月中旬

Hanamatsuri (Okumikawa Winter Kagura)

Hamlets of Toei, Okumikawa, Aichi

Deep in the mountains of eastern Aichi, the small town of Toei spends its winter awake. From early November to mid-Janua

Festival Chubu N

毎年11月23日

Nagano Ebisuko Fireworks Festival

Saigawa riverside, Nagano City, Nagano

Japan shoots its fireworks in summer — tens of millions of people, yukata, humidity, haze. Nagano waits until November 2

Festival Tohoku C

6月第2土曜

Chagu Chagu Umakko Horse Parade

Onikoshi Sozen Shrine, Takizawa, Iwate (start)

There is a festival in Iwate whose entire purpose is to thank horses. On the second Saturday of June, sixty to a hundred

Festival Chubu A

毎年6月5日

Atsuta Festival

Atsuta Jingu, Nagoya, Aichi

The number to know is 365. At dusk on June 5, in the cedar-dark grounds of Atsuta Jingu — the 1,900-year-old Nagoya shri

Festival Kinki S

毎年6月17日(16〜18日)

Saikusa Lily Festival

Isagawa Shrine, Nara City, Nara

The flowers arrive by train. On the morning of June 16, some five hundred sasayuri — the small pink wild lilies of Mt. M

Festival Kinki H

9月第2日曜

Hyoge Matsuri (Comic Harvest Parade)

Asano district, Takamatsu, Kagawa

The swords are taro stems with pumpkin hand-guards. The topknots are palm bark; the formal robes are feed sacks. On the

Festival Kanto K

毎年9月13日

Kazusa Junisha Festival (Hadaka Beach Matsuri)

Tamasaki Shrine & Tsurigasaki Beach, Ichinomiya, Chiba

Once a year, a family of gods holds its reunion on a beach. On September 13, at the climax of the Kazusa Junisha Matsuri

Festival Chugoku M

毎年5月3日・4日

Misasa Hanayu Festival & Jinsho Tug-of-War

Misasa Onsen town, Misasa, Tottori

The rope is made entirely of wild wisteria vine — two ropes, in fact, male and female, each eighty meters long and two t

Gathering Kanto S

例年11月中旬〜4月上旬

Sagamiko Illumillion

1634 Wakayanagi, Midori-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa

An hour west of Tokyo, the lights of the city thin out, the hills darken, and then — abruptly, extravagantly — six milli

Gathering Kyushu H

例年11月上旬〜翌春

Huis Ten Bosch Kingdom of Light

1-1 Huis Ten Bosch-cho, Sasebo, Nagasaki

On the western edge of Kyushu, a Dutch city that never was puts on thirteen million lights and becomes, for half the yea

Festival Chubu K

例年2月最終土日

Katsuyama Sagicho Festival

Central Katsuyama, Fukui

In the last days of February, deep in the snow country of Fukui, a castle town does something unexpected: it throws a pa

Festival Kinki O

例年2月1日〜5日

Owase Yaya Festival

Owase Shrine area, Kitaura-cho, Owase, Mie

For five nights in early February, the fishing town of Owase — pressed between steep mountains and a deep ria inlet on t

Festival Kinki S

例年2月第3土曜

Saidaiji Eyo Naked Festival

Saidaiji Kannon-in, 3-8-8 Saidaiji-naka, Higashi-ku, Okayama

On the third Saturday of February, thousands of men in loincloths pack the great hall of Saidaiji Kannon-in temple in Ok

Festival Kyushu T

例年1月3日

Tamaseseri Ball-Catching Festival

Hakozakigu Shrine, 1-22-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka

On the third of January, while much of Japan is still drowsing through the New Year, the men of Hakozaki in Fukuoka stri

Festival Kyushu O

例年1月7日

Oniyo Fire Festival

Daizenji Tamataregu Shrine, Daizenji-machi, Kurume, Fukuoka

A week into the new year, on the plain of the Chikugo River near Kurume, one of Japan's three great fire festivals sets

Festival Kanto C

例年1月15日

Chakkirako

Kainan Shrine and central Misaki, Miura, Kanagawa

On the fifteenth of January, in the tuna port of Misaki at the tip of the Miura Peninsula, one of the smallest festivals

Festival Kyushu H

例年1月中旬（四王子神社）

Hamayumi-sai - The Matobakai

Shioji Shrine, Nagasu, Tamana District, Kumamoto

It ends in the sea. Nagasu faces the Ariake, a sea of tides and mudflats. In the grounds of Shioji Shrine, men in loinc

Festival Kyushu Y

例年2月の毎週金・土曜（全8夜）

Yamaga Lantern Romance - Hyakka Hyakusai

Buzen-kaido, between the Yachiyoza and Sakura-yu, Yamaga, Kumamoto

The light comes down to the town. In summer, the women of Yamaga carry golden lanterns on their heads and dance. In win

Festival Kyushu A

例年3月（田作祭7日間のうち4日目・申の日）

Aso Shrine Hifuri - The Fire-Swinging Rite

Aso Shrine, Miyaji, Ichinomiya-machi, Aso, Kumamoto

A wedding, welcomed with swinging fire. The Tatsukuri rite at Aso Shrine runs seven days. The god Kunitatsu lodges each

Festival Shikoku K

例年旧暦8月14日〜15日（新暦9〜10月）

Kure Hachimangu Autumn Festival

Kure Hachimangu, 6545 Kure, Nakatosa, Kochi

At midnight, it leaves the house. Kure, a fishing town on the Pacific coast of Kochi. On the fourteenth night of the ei

Festival Shikoku O

例年11月下旬の2日間

Otoi Grand Sumo

Otoi Kaikan, 12-10 Nomura, Nomura-cho, Seiyo, Ehime

At the end of November, top-division sumo wrestlers come to a small town in the mountains. Nomura, in Seiyo City, Ehime

Festival Kinki A

例年2月下旬〜4月上旬

Awa Katsuura Big Hina Festival

Doll Culture Hall, 35-1 Tsukinose, Ikuna, Katsuura, Tokushima

Dolls that no longer have a place at home come here from all over the country. Katsuura, a small town in the hills of T

Festival Chugoku S

例年4月中旬〜下旬（約2週間）

Shikoku Konpira Kabuki

Kanamaru-za (Old Konpira Grand Theatre), 1241 Otsu, Kotohira, Kagawa

Once a year, the oldest playhouse in Japan is used for what it was built for. Kotohira, in Kagawa, at the foot of the l

Festival Other E

例年1月中旬〜2月上旬

Echizen Coast Daffodil Festival

Echizen Suisen no Sato Park, 43-25 Ikuracho, Fukui

Try to name a flower that blooms in Japan in January. The list is short, and on this coast it has one entry. The Echize

Gathering Tohoku T

1月中旬〜2月中旬の土日

Tsugaru Ground Blizzard Experience

Meet at Kanagi Station, Tsugaru Railway, Kanagi, Goshogawara, Aomori

Jifubuki is not snow falling. It is snow that has already fallen, lifted off the ground by wind until the air turns whit

Festival Other K

毎年9月第3金曜から3日間

Kuji Autumn Festival

Central Kuji, Iwate

The floats in Kuji move. Not merely along the street, which any float does, but upward and outward: figures and ornament

Festival Chubu Y

例年9月下旬の土日2日間

Yamanaka Onsen Koikoi Matsuri

Around Yamanakaza, Yamanaka Onsen, Kaga, Ishikawa

Koikoi means come, come. It is not addressed to the gods or to the town but to the guests: the people staying in the inn