My trip 行程

The industry’s main annual fair: studio stands, stage events and the first announcements of the year’s series. It has been held in Tokyo since it began in 2014; the public days of 2027 are at INTEX Osaka, on the bay side of the city.

Dates

27–28 Mar

Where

INTEX Osaka, OsakaGoogle Maps

Tickets

Ticket types and prices are not announced yet.

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

Photo credit

1. Sakai Yayoi · CC0

Fifteen days of sumo in the sport's home arena, the last Tokyo tournament of the year. Bouts run from early morning to the top division around 16:00–18:00; the building fills as the ranks rise. Sit in the arena for the sound of the bodies meeting, then eat yakitori from the basement kitchens.

Dates

13–27 Sep

Where

Ryogoku Kokugikan, TokyoGoogle Maps

Open

Open every day · Doors 8:45 (10:30 on 25–26 Sep, 10:00 on the 27th) · top divisions from about 14:00 · ends about 18:00

Tickets

Tickets sell out weeks ahead; a limited number of same-day general-admission seats go on sale at 07:45. On sale since 8 AugBuy ticketsKlook

Holidays

Respect for the Aged Day, Citizens' Holiday, Autumnal Equinox Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-12

Photos

4 photos · credits

1. Simon Q · CC BY 2.0
2. Gregg Tavares · CC BY 2.0
3. GI Jack · CC BY-SA 3.0
4. Gregg Tavares · CC BY 2.0

Bunraku was born in Osaka and this is its home stage: puppets worked by three men each, with a chanter and a shamisen player seated to the side. Three separately ticketed programmes a day. This autumn: Shinju Yoi Goshin, the last of Chikamatsu’s love-suicide plays, at 11:00; acts from Imoseyama Onna Teikin at 14:15; and Honcho Nijushiko, with its fox-fire scene, at 17:45.

Dates

31 Oct – 23 Nov

Where

National Bunraku Theatre, Nipponbashi, OsakaGoogle Maps

Open

Programmes at 11:00, 14:15 and 17:45, each about two and a half to three hours · Closed 6 Nov and 16 Nov

Tickets

¥6,500 per programme, students ¥4,600; all three for ¥18,000. Booking by phone and online opens on 8 October at 10:00. Surtitles are shown; the theatre does not say in which language. On sale from 8 Oct · in 14 daysBuy tickets

Holidays

Culture Day, Labour Thanksgiving Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Heritage

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage · 2008 人形浄瑠璃文楽（ユネスコ無形文化遺産代表一覧表）

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Ivan Fourie · CC BY 2.0
2. Mc681 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The first large-scale Resident Evil show, staged for the series' thirtieth year: seven themed areas of development material, original artwork and life-size villains — Wesker, Lady Dimitrescu, Leon — built as walk-through sets rather than vitrines. Five minutes from Shibuya Station and open until 21:00, so it fits after a day spent elsewhere.

Dates

30 Oct – 24 Dec

Where

BEAM Gallery, Shibuya, TokyoGoogle Maps

Open

Open every day · Weekdays 10:00–21:00, weekends and holidays 9:00–21:00 · last entry 19:59

Tickets

Timed entry by date and slot via Ticket Pia; adults ¥3,300 on weekdays and ¥3,600 at weekends, a little cheaper if bought before 29 October. On sale since 3 AugBuy tickets

Holidays

Culture Day, Labour Thanksgiving Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-12

Photos

4 photos · credits

1. Capcom France · CC BY 3.0
2. KniBaron · CC BY 2.0
3. Capcom France · CC BY 3.0
4. Pop Culture Geek · CC BY 2.0

The New Year run on bunraku’s home stage in Osaka, three separately ticketed programmes a day. At 11:00 the dances Manzai and Sagi Musume with Ashiya Doman Ouchi Kagami, in which the fox Kuzunoha parts from her child; at 14:30 Igagoe Dochu Sugoroku, including the Numazu scene; at 18:45 Kuruwa Bunsho.

Dates

3–24 Jan

Where

National Bunraku Theatre, Nipponbashi, OsakaGoogle Maps

Open

Programmes at 11:00, 14:30 and 18:45 · Closed 14 Jan

Tickets

Programmes 1 and 2 ¥6,700 each, students ¥4,700; programme 3 ¥5,500, students ¥3,900. Booking by phone and online opens on 8 December at 10:00. Surtitles are shown, and the theatre has an English information page. On sale from 8 Dec · in 75 daysBuy tickets

Holidays

Coming of Age Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Heritage

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage · 2008 人形浄瑠璃文楽（ユネスコ無形文化遺産代表一覧表）

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Gunther Hagleitner · CC BY 2.0
2. Mc681 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Male snow crab, matsuba-gani in Tottori and echizen-gani in Fukui, may be landed from 6 November, and the first auctions set the mood of the winter. Port towns from Sakaiminato to Mikuni run crab markets and kaiseki menus from that week until March.

Dates

6 Nov

Where

Sea of Japan ports, San'in to Hokuriku, TottoriGoogle Maps

Tickets

Book a ryokan with a crab course; early-season prices are the highest.

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-22

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. さかおり · CC BY-SA 4.0
2. Miyuki Meinaka · CC BY-SA 4.0
3. くろふね · CC BY-SA 4.0

Asia's largest open art fair: some 6,500 booths of independent illustrators, makers and performers, no jury, everything for sale. Two days, 10:00–18:00. Go to buy original work from people who are not on any gallery's list.

Dates

14–15 Nov

Where

Tokyo Big Sight, TokyoGoogle Maps

Open

10:00–18:00 both days

Tickets

Advance tickets ¥800 online, ¥1,000 at the door; a two-day pass is ¥1,500. On sale since 19 SepBuy tickets

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-12

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. Rs1421 · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. Syced · CC0
3. Bject · CC BY-SA 4.0

Kyoto’s festival of July, begun in 869 as a rite against plague. Thirty-four floats, the tallest about 25 metres and hung with tapestries from as far as Persia and Flanders, are pulled through the centre in two processions: the Saki Matsuri on the 17th and the smaller, quieter Ato Matsuri on the 24th. On the three evenings before each, the floats stand lit in their home streets. In 2027 both processions fall on Saturdays, and the 24th leaves time to reach the boats of Osaka’s Tenjin Matsuri the next evening.

Dates

14–24 Jul

Where

Yasaka Shrine and the float districts of central Kyoto, KyotoGoogle Maps

Open

Wed 14 Jul · Yoiyama evenings of the Saki Matsuri, 14–16 July: floats lit in their streetsSat 17 Jul · Saki Matsuri procession from 9:00, 23 floatsWed 21 Jul · Yoiyama evenings of the Ato Matsuri, 21–23 JulySat 24 Jul · Ato Matsuri procession from 9:30, 11 floats

Tickets

Free from the pavement; paid seats usually go on sale in June. Rooms for 14–17 July sell out months ahead.

Holidays

Marine Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Heritage

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage · 2009 京都祇園祭の山鉾行事（ユネスコ無形文化遺産代表一覧表）Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property · 1979 京都祇園祭の山鉾行事

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. Edomura no Tokuzo · CC BY-SA 4.0
2. Edomura no Tokuzo · CC BY-SA 4.0
3. Sakurai Midori · CC BY-SA 3.0

Four of Kyoto’s five geisha districts stage their public dances in spring; Gion Higashi alone dances in autumn, on the same ten days every year. About an hour of dance by its geiko and maiko, twice a day, with a tea-ceremony seat beforehand for those who take the dearer ticket.

Dates

1–10 Nov

Where

Gion Kaikan, KyotoGoogle Maps

Open

Open every day · Performances at 13:30 and 16:00, about one hour; doors open an hour before

Tickets

¥7,000 with the tea-ceremony seat, ¥6,000 without; sold through the district’s own online shop. Buy tickets

Holidays

Culture Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

Photo credit

1. Kirakirameister · CC BY-SA 3.0

Every summer Gyoda plants a picture across its paddies with four varieties of rice whose leaves grow in different colours; about a thousand people planted this year's over two days in June. Guinness World Records lists it as the world's largest rice paddy art, and the whole picture can be seen only from the observation deck of Gyoda Tower, 50 metres up in Kodai Hasu no Sato. The picture changes every year: 2025 was Tanjiro from Demon Slayer, and 2026 is a collaboration with Minecraft. Its colours shift as the rice grows, until the harvest in mid-October. About an hour from Ueno on the JR Takasaki Line to Gyoda, then the city loop bus.

Dates

11 Jul – 20 Oct

Where

Kodai Hasu no Sato, Gyoda, SaitamaGoogle Maps

Open

From 1 September 9:00–16:30 · last entry 16:00 · closed on Mondays except holidays, and on the day after a holiday except at weekends · Closed 24 Sep, 28 Sep, 5 Oct, 13 Oct and 19 Oct

Tickets

Gyoda Tower, the only place the whole picture can be seen from: adults ¥400, children ¥200, under-sixes free.

Holidays

Marine Day, Mountain Day, Respect for the Aged Day, Citizens' Holiday, Autumnal Equinox Day, Sports Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-24

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Nori Norisa · CC BY 4.0
2. Nori Norisa · CC BY 4.0

For four evenings the temples of Hakata’s old town, the merchant quarter that was Japan’s door to the continent, are lit and opened after dark: 14 paid sites in two areas, Tocho-ji and Joten-ji among them, with free ones around them, Kushida Shrine included. The theme for 2026 is Stars. One ticket covers every paid site.

Dates

31 Oct – 3 Nov

Where

Temples and shrines of Hakata old town, FukuokaGoogle Maps

Open

Open every day · Gokusho and Reisen area 17:30–21:00, last entry 20:45 · Gofukumachi area 17:30–21:30, last entry 21:15

Tickets

¥2,450 digital or ¥2,500 on paper for all paid sites; junior high age and under free with an adult; students ¥1,750 at the booths with ID. An express pass is ¥6,000. On sale since 31 JulBuy tickets

Holidays

Culture Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. Hiroshi Kageyama · CC BY 3.0
2. Nick-D · CC BY-SA 4.0
3. 水車 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Hakata’s festival of 1–15 July, traced to 1241, when the Zen priest Shoichi Kokushi was carried through the town sprinkling holy water against a plague; it is on UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage. For two weeks decorated floats 10 to 15 metres tall stand on view around the city. The racing floats come out on the 10th, and at 4:59 on the 15th the first of seven district teams, men in loincloths and short coats, charges its one-tonne float into Kushida Shrine and out along a five-kilometre course, the others following minutes apart against the clock. In 2027 the 15th is a Thursday.

Dates

1–15 Jul

Where

Kushida Shrine and the streets of Hakata, FukuokaGoogle Maps

Open

Thu 1 Jul · Decorated floats go on view across the city, until the 14thFri 9 Jul · Oshioi-tori: all seven teams run to the beach at Hakozaki for purifying sandSat 10 Jul · Nagare-gaki: the racing floats come out, each in its own districtSun 11 Jul · Asa-yama in the early morning, then runs into the neighbouring districtsMon 12 Jul · Oiyama-narashi, the timed rehearsal, from 15:59Tue 13 Jul · Shudan-yamamise: the floats parade on Meiji-dori from 15:30Wed 14 Jul · Nagare-gaki, the last district runsThu 15 Jul · Oiyama: the first float enters Kushida Shrine at 4:59

Tickets

Free from the street: come well before dawn for the race. Seats in the stand inside Kushida Shrine are sold in person at the shrine on 26 June; in 2026 about 280 seats at ¥7,000 went in 15 minutes.

Heritage

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage · 2016 山・鉾・屋台行事（ユネスコ無形文化遺産代表一覧表）Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property · 1979 博多祇園山笠行事

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. ぱちょぴ（pacyopi） · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. Pontafon · CC BY-SA 3.0
3. そらみみ · CC BY-SA 4.0

The only one of the six annual tournaments held in Kansai, in a compact arena a few minutes from Namba where even the upper seats are close to the ring. The stables lodge at temples and halls around the city for the month, so wrestlers are a common sight on the streets and trains.

Dates

14–28 Mar

Where

Edion Arena Osaka, Namba, OsakaGoogle Maps

Tickets

The sale date is posted by the Japan Sumo Association; buy from the official seller. Buy tickets

Holidays

Vernal Equinox Day, Substitute holiday · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Ogiyoshisan · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. KishujiRapid · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Chinese chronicle of Wei records that in 239 its emperor sent Himiko, queen of Wa, a hundred bronze mirrors. The candidates are the triangular-rimmed mirrors with gods and beasts found in early burial mounds across Japan. The exhibition gathers them, several of them Important Cultural Properties, with a National Treasure mirror, haniwa and arms, to argue, as its subtitle says, that these mirrors made the Yamato kingship. The museum stands beside Dazaifu Tenmangu.

Dates

31 Oct – 11 Jan

Where

Kyushu National Museum, Dazaifu, FukuokaGoogle Maps

Open

Tue–Fri and Sun 9:30–17:00 · Sat 9:30–19:00 · last entry 30 min before closing · Closed 2 Nov, 9 Nov, 16 Nov, 24 Nov, 30 Nov, 7 Dec, 14 Dec, 21 Dec, 24–31 Dec and 4 Jan

Tickets

¥2,000, university students ¥1,200, high school age and under free. Sold only at the museum during the show: there are no advance tickets.

Holidays

Culture Day, Labour Thanksgiving Day, New Year's Day, Coming of Age Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Nick-D · CC BY-SA 4.0
2. Saigen Jiro · Public domain

From autumn to spring the oyster farmers of Itoshima, west of Fukuoka, open huts on their own quays: you buy oysters by the kilo and grill them yourself at the table. About two dozen huts work five harbours, eleven of them side by side at Kishi. The season runs from October to about April, but each hut opens and closes on its own day; the dates here are the months when all of them are open, and the list for 2026–27 is not published yet.

Dates

1 Nov – 31 Mar

Where

Fishing harbours of Itoshima: Kishi, Funakoshi, Kafuri, Fukuyoshi, Fukae, FukuokaGoogle Maps

Tickets

No tickets. Buses from the north exit of JR Chikuzen-Maebaru serve most of the harbours. Check that the hut you want is open on the tourism association’s list before you go.

Holidays

Culture Day, Labour Thanksgiving Day, New Year's Day, Coming of Age Day, National Foundation Day, Emperor's Birthday, Vernal Equinox Day, Substitute holiday · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. 東広島市 · CC BY-SA 4.0
2. Chihaya Sta · CC BY 4.0

A two-kilometre procession of two thousand people in costume, walking backwards through a thousand years of Kyoto: Meiji soldiers first, Heian courtiers last. The costumes are researched to the dye recipe. It leaves the palace at noon and reaches Heian Shrine mid-afternoon.

Dates

22 Oct

Where

Kyoto Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine, KyotoGoogle Maps

Open

Procession leaves Kyoto Gyoen at 12:00; about two hours to pass any point

Tickets

Paid seats at the palace, on Oike-dori and Jingu-michi, ¥5,000–7,500, sold through Kyoto City Tourism Association; free anywhere along the route. On sale since 8 SepBuy tickets

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-12

Photos

4 photos · credits

1. Peter 111 · Public domain
2. Corpse Reviver · CC BY-SA 3.0
3. Corpse Reviver · CC BY-SA 3.0
4. Corpse Reviver · CC BY-SA 3.0

Kaomise, face-showing, is the December run in which the leading actors of Tokyo and Osaka kabuki share one bill at Minamiza, the theatre beside the Kamo river on the ground where kabuki began. From late November the facade carries the maneki, wooden boards with each actor’s name brushed in thick black script, which Kyoto reads as the start of winter.

Dates

1–24 Dec

Where

Minamiza, Shijo, KyotoGoogle Maps

Tickets

Seat prices, closed days and the general sale date are posted by Shochiku; its members’ pre-sale comes first.

Heritage

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage · kabuki, 2008 歌舞伎（ユネスコ無形文化遺産代表一覧表）

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Conveyor belt sushi · CC BY 2.0
2. Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0

Fourteen lacquered floats shaped as lions, a sea bream, a helmet, a phoenix — the oldest from 1819 — dragged through the castle town and, on the 3rd, across the sand of Nishinohama beach. Karatsu's pottery kilns are open the same week.

Dates

2–4 Nov

Where

Karatsu Shrine and the town, SagaGoogle Maps

Open

Mon 2 Nov · Yoiyama: lantern-lit floats through the town from 19:30Tue 3 Nov · Beach day: procession from about 9:30, the floats dragged onto the Nishinohama sandsWed 4 Nov · Town parade: the fourteen floats pulled 8 km through the old castle town and back to their hall

Tickets

Free. Beach day on the 3rd is the one to see.

Holidays

Culture Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Heritage

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage · 2016 山・鉾・屋台行事（ユネスコ無形文化遺産代表一覧表）Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property · 1980 唐津くんちの曳山行事

Source

Official site · dates to be confirmed

Photos

4 photos · credits

1. MC MasterChef · CC BY-SA 2.5
2. MC MasterChef · CC BY-SA 2.5
3. MC MasterChef · CC BY-SA 2.5
4. Z001 · Public domain

A float festival within reach of Tokyo, forty minutes from Ikebukuro. Two dozen towering floats meet at crossroads after dark for hikkawase: the musicians face off and the crowd decides who played harder. The warehouse-lined streets of Little Edo are the set.

Dates

17–18 Oct

Where

Kawagoe old town, SaitamaGoogle Maps

Open

Streets closed to traffic 10:00–22:00 both daysSat 17 Oct · Yoiyama: floats lit by lanterns, music on board · hikkawase face-offs after darkSun 18 Oct · Float parade past the city hall · hikkawase face-offs after dark

Tickets

Free. Go after 18:00 for the face-offs; the last trains back are crowded but frequent.

Heritage

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage · 2016 山・鉾・屋台行事（ユネスコ無形文化遺産代表一覧表）Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property · 2005 川越氷川祭の山車行事

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-08

Photos

4 photos · credits

1. Kounosu · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. 江戸村のとくぞう · CC BY-SA 4.0
3. 江戸村のとくぞう · CC BY-SA 4.0
4. 江戸村のとくぞう · CC BY-SA 4.0

Teams of several hundred pull a four-tonne carved wooden danjiri through the streets at a run and swing it round right-angle corners without slowing, the yarimawashi, with a carpenter dancing on the roof. The famous September festival by the castle is over for this year; in October the districts towards the hills hold theirs, with the same kind of float, the same corners and a thinner crowd.

Dates

10–11 Oct

Where

Hill-side districts of Kishiwada, OsakaGoogle Maps

Open

Sat 10 Oct · Eve festival: floats run 6:00–22:00Sun 11 Oct · Main festival: floats run 7:00–22:00

Tickets

Free. Stand well back from the outside of a corner: floats do run wide. A trial run is held on 4 October, 13:00–17:00. Pulling times differ by district.

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Kounosu · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. Kounosu · CC BY-SA 3.0

A free weekend of anime, manga and games: voice-actor stages, exhibitions, cosplay and merchandise in the Kitakyushu Messe hall and in Aruaru City, the building of anime shops that also houses the Kitakyushu Manga Museum. Both are a short walk from the Shinkansen side of Kokura Station. This is the fourth edition; the 2025 one drew 47,854 visitors to the hall.

Dates

28–29 Nov

Where

Kitakyushu Messe and Aruaru City, Kokura, FukuokaGoogle Maps

Tickets

Free entry.

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Bmazerolles · CC BY 4.0
2. Asai1920 · CC BY-SA 3.0

The same evening as Jidai Matsuri, an hour up the Eizan line: villagers carry pine torches up to five metres long through a single mountain street until the shrine steps are a wall of fire. It starts at 18:00 and peaks around 21:00; trains back run past midnight.

Dates

22 Oct

Where

Yuki Shrine, Kurama, KyotoGoogle Maps

Open

From 18:00 into the night

Tickets

Free, but the small station is capacity-controlled — arrive before 17:00 or expect to queue.

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-08

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. Indiana jo · CC BY-SA 4.0
2. Indiana jo · CC BY-SA 4.0
3. Indiana jo · CC BY-SA 4.0

Each autumn since 1965 a preservation foundation opens buildings and treasures that are otherwise not shown. The 62nd edition has 32 sites across the prefecture, among them the lecture hall and five-storey pagoda of To-ji, the Sanmon gate of Chion-in, Kamigamo and Shimogamo shrines, and the Kitayama Kaikan of the Omotesenke tea school, open for the first time. Dates differ from site to site within the period.

Dates

30 Oct – 6 Dec

Where

32 temples and shrines across Kyoto Prefecture, KyotoGoogle Maps

Open

Open every day · Reception 9:00–16:00 at most sites

Tickets

¥1,000 per site, ¥500 for junior high and high school students; a few sites differ. No reservation: pay at each gate.

Holidays

Culture Day, Labour Thanksgiving Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-22

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. ONO Masanobu · CC0
2. Andrevan · CC BY-SA 4.0

An international photography festival, held every spring since 2013, that hangs its exhibitions in places you would otherwise not enter: temple halls, machiya townhouses, old industrial buildings. A month of main exhibitions, with a fringe programme, KG+, of smaller shows around them.

Dates

17 Apr – 16 May

Where

Temples, machiya and galleries across Kyoto, KyotoGoogle Maps

Tickets

The programme, the venues and the passport price for 2027 are not announced yet.

Holidays

Showa Day, Constitution Memorial Day, Greenery Day, Children's Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Toyotsu · CC BY-SA 4.0
2. Toyotsu · CC BY-SA 4.0

The year's last tournament, in Fukuoka: a smaller arena, closer seats, easier tickets than Tokyo, and a loud local crowd. Hakata's yatai food stalls are ten minutes' walk from the hall.

Dates

8–22 Nov

Where

Fukuoka Kokusai Center, FukuokaGoogle Maps

Open

Open every day · Doors 8:45 (10:30 on 20–21 Nov, 10:00 on the 22nd) · top divisions from about 14:00 · ends about 18:00

Tickets

Easier than Tokyo; weekday tickets are usually available a week out. On sale since 19 SepBuy ticketsKlook

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-12

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. t-konno · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. Tzuhsun Hsu · CC BY-SA 2.0
3. Simon Desmarais · CC BY-SA 2.0

Ainu from across Hokkaido gather at Lake Akan for three days of kamuy-nomi prayers around the marimo, the lake’s protected balls of green algae: they are welcomed from the water, guarded, and carried back out on a dugout canoe. A torch procession crosses the hot-spring town at night, with classical Ainu dance. Held on the same three dates every year since 1950, when it began as a way to return marimo to the lake.

Dates

8–10 Oct

Where

Lake Akan Onsen, Kushiro, HokkaidoGoogle Maps

Tickets

Free. Lake Akan is about 2 h by bus from Kushiro Stn, and the lakeside has few inns: book a room first.

Heritage

Special Natural Monument · the marimo of Lake Akan 阿寒湖のマリモ 特別天然記念物

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

Photo credit

1. 663highland · CC BY 2.5

The autumn festival of Munakata Taisha, the World Heritage shrine of three sanctuaries, opens at sea. The deities of the two island sanctuaries are brought from Oshima to the mainland escorted by more than a hundred fishing boats flying their big-catch flags. The fleet leaves Oshima at 9:30 and reaches Konominato at 10:40; a land procession carries on to the main sanctuary, Hetsu-miya, which it enters just after noon. Horseback archery follows on the morning of the 2nd, and the festival closes at 18:00 on the 3rd with sacred dance at Takamiya, the open-air altar in the woods.

Dates

1–3 Oct

Where

Oshima island to Konominato port, then Munakata Taisha, FukuokaGoogle Maps

Open

Thu 1 Oct · Sea procession: leaves Oshima 9:30, reaches Konominato 10:40 · land procession from 11:10, enters Hetsu-miya at 12:10Fri 2 Oct · Yabusame horseback archery at 8:00 · main rite at 11:00, followed by the Okina danceSat 3 Oct · Takamiya autumn rite 10:00 · shrine rite with Urayasu dance 11:00 · tea offering 14:00 · Takamiya Kannabi-sai with sacred dance 18:00

Tickets

Free. Watch from the quay at Konominato, where the fleet passes 100–150 metres offshore; three car parks by the ferry terminal, ¥200–300. Nishitetsu bus 1 or 1-2 from JR Togo Stn: about 10 min to Munakata Taisha-mae, then on to Konominato Hatoba; roughly one bus an hour.

Heritage

World Heritage · Munakata and Okinoshima, 2017 「神宿る島」宗像・沖ノ島と関連遺産群 世界遺産

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. Amaknowjp · CC BY-SA 4.0
2. そらみみ (Soramimi) · CC BY-SA 4.0
3. そらみみ (Soramimi) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Nagasaki's autumn festival is where Dutch, Chinese and Portuguese trade history turns into dance: a Chinese dragon dance, a Dutch ship on wheels, whaling boats spun on the shoulders of forty men. Each neighbourhood performs once every seven years, so the programme is never the same twice.

Dates

7–9 Oct

Where

Suwa Shrine and the old town, NagasakiGoogle Maps

Open

Wed 7 Oct · Suwa Shrine from 7:00, Central Park from 8:10, Otabisho from 9:10 · evening: Suwa Shrine 16:00, Central Park 17:10Thu 8 Oct · Yasaka Shrine 7:00–9:30, Central Park 8:00–10:30 · evening: Suwa Shrine from 16:20Fri 9 Oct · Otabisho from 7:00, Suwa Shrine from 8:20

Tickets

Paid seats at Suwa Shrine and Otabisho sell out early; the Central Park stand sells through Ticket Pia; free viewing along the town route. On sale since 3 AugBuy tickets

Heritage

Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property · 1979 長崎くんちの奉納踊

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-22

Photos

4 photos · credits

1. Masoud Akbari · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. Masoud Akbari · CC BY-SA 3.0
3. Masoud Akbari · CC BY-SA 3.0
4. Marufish · CC BY-SA 2.0

An hour of fireworks set to music over the Yodo river, launched between the Shin-Midosuji bridge and Route 2, within walking distance of Umeda. The 38th edition; an August event until 2024, it moved to October in 2025. More than 450,000 people line the banks in a usual year.

Dates

17 Oct

Where

Yodogawa riverbank, Juso, OsakaGoogle Maps

Open

19:00–20:00

Tickets

The banks are free and fill from mid-afternoon. Paid seats are sold on the official site.

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. jetsun · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. inoue-hiro · CC BY-SA 3.0

The memorial of the priest Nichiren, who died here in 1282. On the night of the 12th more than a hundred groups, about three thousand people, carry mando, lantern towers hung with paper cherry blossom, along two kilometres of streets to the temple, to drums and flutes, from about 18:00 until late at night. The temple counts over 300,000 visitors, and almost nothing about it is written in English.

Dates

11–13 Oct

Where

Ikegami Honmon-ji, Ota, TokyoGoogle Maps

Open

Mon 12 Oct · Robing ceremony 10:00 · memorial service 14:00 · lantern procession from about 18:00 until late at nightTue 13 Oct · Sermon and the service of Nichiren’s death from 7:00

Tickets

Free. The streets around the temple are closed to cars on all three days; come by the Tokyu Ikegami Line to Ikegami Stn.

Holidays

Sports Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. tak1701d · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. NY066 · CC BY-SA 3.0

A rite of driving out demons held on the night of 7 January for more than 1,600 years, counted among Japan’s three great fire festivals and a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property since 1994. Several hundred young men in loincloths raise six torches, each 13 metres long, a metre across at the head and 1.2 tonnes, and carry them burning round the precinct.

Dates

7 Jan

Where

Daizenji Tamataregu, Kurume, FukuokaGoogle Maps

Open

Rites from 13:00 · in 2026 the great torches were lit about 20:40 and the night ended about 23:10 · the 2027 timetable is not published yet

Tickets

Free, held rain or shine. Daizenji Stn on the Nishitetsu Tenjin–Omuta Line, 5 min on foot.

Heritage

Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property · 1994 大善寺玉垂宮の鬼夜

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Pontafon · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. STA3816 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Candles set in snow lanterns along the canal and the old railway line, lit by hand each evening by volunteers, many of whom travel from Korea, China and Taiwan for the week. It started in 1999 and takes its name from a 1926 poetry collection by Ito Sei, who grew up in Otaru. The 29th edition overlaps the Sapporo Snow Festival on 6–11 February, and Otaru is about 35 min from Sapporo by rapid train.

Dates

6–13 Feb

Where

Otaru Canal area, HokkaidoGoogle Maps

Tickets

Free. Venues and lighting hours for 2027 are not announced yet; in past years the candles burned from 17:00 to 21:00.

Holidays

National Foundation Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. t-konno · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. t-konno · CC BY-SA 3.0

It began in 1950, when local school pupils set up six snow statues in Odori Park; the 2026 edition drew 2.54 million people. The Odori site lines the park with snow statues the size of buildings, several raised by the Ground Self-Defense Force, which has taken part since 1955. Susukino, a site since 1983, has the ice carvings, and Tsudome the snow slides.

Dates

4–11 Feb

Where

Odori Park, Susukino and Tsudome, Sapporo, HokkaidoGoogle Maps

Open

Open every day · Odori Park statues lit until 22:00

Tickets

Free at all three sites. Sapporo’s hotels sell out for the week: book in autumn. Site hours for 2027 are published from mid-December.

Holidays

National Foundation Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. t-konno · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. 京浜にけ · CC BY-SA 3.0
3. Materialscientist · CC BY-SA 3.0

In Yanagawa the hina dolls of the girls’ festival are flanked by sagemon: hanging strings of cloth cranes, rabbits, chicks and crawling babies with bright wound-thread balls, wishes for a daughter’s health and happiness. For 52 days, on the same dates every year, the sights, shopping streets and shops of the canal town show theirs. The day to come for is the water parade in mid-March, when children in festival dress ride the canal boats; in 2026 it was on Sunday 15 March, 11:00–12:20, and the 2027 date is not announced yet.

Dates

11 Feb – 3 Apr

Where

Canal town of Yanagawa, FukuokaGoogle Maps

Open

Thu 11 Feb · Opening rite and procession; in 2026 from 10:00Sat 3 Apr · Nagashi-bina, the closing rite

Tickets

Free to walk. The 2027 programme is not published yet.

Holidays

National Foundation Day, Emperor's Birthday, Vernal Equinox Day, Substitute holiday · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0
2. Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0
3. Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0

A street market that began in 1578 as a free market under the lords of Odawara and became a rag fair, which is what its name means: old kimono, tools, antiques, plants and food along one street in Setagaya, a designated folk cultural property of Tokyo. It is held on the same dates every year, 15–16 December and 15–16 January, whatever the weekday.

Dates

15–16 Dec

Where

Boroichi-dori, Setagaya, TokyoGoogle Maps

Open

9:00–20:00

Tickets

Free. The street is shoulder to shoulder by midday: come at 9:00.

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. Takahashi J · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. おむこさん志望 · CC BY 3.0
3. Edomura no Tokuzo · CC BY-SA 3.0

A street market that began in 1578 as a free market under the lords of Odawara and became a rag fair, which is what its name means: old kimono, tools, antiques, plants and food along one street in Setagaya, a designated folk cultural property of Tokyo. It is held on the same dates every year, 15–16 December and 15–16 January, whatever the weekday.

Dates

15–16 Jan

Where

Boroichi-dori, Setagaya, TokyoGoogle Maps

Open

9:00–20:00

Tickets

Free. The street is shoulder to shoulder by midday: come at 9:00.

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. Edomura no Tokuzo · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. Takahashi J · CC BY-SA 3.0
3. おむこさん志望 · CC BY 3.0

Three of the authors who turned girls’ manga into literature in the 1970s, shown together in a national museum: Moto Hagio of The Poe Clan, Ryoko Yamagishi of Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun, Waki Yamato of Haikara-san and The Tale of Genji in manga. More than 800 original drawings, in black and white and in colour.

Dates

28 Oct – 8 Feb

Where

The National Art Center, Tokyo, Roppongi, TokyoGoogle Maps

Open

10:00–18:00, Fridays and Saturdays to 20:00 · last entry 30 min before closing · Closed Tuesdays, 4 Nov and 28 Dec – 5 Jan

Tickets

¥2,200, advance ¥2,000; university students ¥1,000, high school students ¥500. Sold online through e-tix, ARTPASS and Asoview.

Holidays

Culture Day, Labour Thanksgiving Day, New Year's Day, Coming of Age Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Kaz Ish · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. Kakidai · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sapporo’s triennale, a winter festival since its 2024 edition. The theme, Planet Snow, carries two Ainu subtitles: upas mintar, snow garden, for those who live here, and upas nociw, snow star, for those who arrive. Creative director Hideaki Ogawa spreads the work over eleven venues, among them Isamu Noguchi’s Moerenuma Park, the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, a 500 m underground gallery and the Odori site of the Snow Festival, which falls inside the run on 4–11 February.

Dates

16 Jan – 21 Feb

Where

Eleven venues across Sapporo, including Moerenuma Park, HokkaidoGoogle Maps

Tickets

Ticket and passport prices are not announced yet. Four of the venues keep their own dates within the run.

Holidays

National Foundation Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-22

Photos

Photo credit

1. Tsuyoshi Yoshida · CC BY-SA 3.0

Eleven gilded festival floats, most of them eighteenth-century and all national cultural properties, pulled through the preserved merchant streets. On the evening of the 9th they parade lit by a hundred lanterns each; one performs marionette plays worked by strings from inside.

Dates

9–10 Oct

Where

Sakurayama Hachiman Shrine, old town, GifuGoogle Maps

Open

Fri 9 Oct · Floats on show 9:30–17:00 · marionettes 12:00 and 14:00 · lantern parade 18:15–20:30Sat 10 Oct · Floats on show 9:30–16:00 · marionettes 11:00 and 13:00

Tickets

Free; the town's inns book out months ahead — stay in Gero or Hida-Furukawa and take the train.

Heritage

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage · 2016 山・鉾・屋台行事（ユネスコ無形文化遺産代表一覧表）Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property · 1979 高山祭の屋台行事

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-08

Photos

4 photos · credits

1. Chme82 · CC BY-SA 4.0
2. Chme82 · CC BY-SA 4.0
3. Sjaak Kempe · CC BY 2.0
4. 大野 一将 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The festival of Osaka Tenmangu, held on the same two dates every year and said to date from 951. On the 25th a land procession of about 3,000 people in court dress leaves the shrine in mid-afternoon, and from about 18:00 the deity boards a fleet of about a hundred boats on the Okawa, lit by bonfires, under votive fireworks. In 2027 both days fall at a weekend.

Dates

24–25 Jul

Where

Osaka Tenmangu and the Okawa river, OsakaGoogle Maps

Open

Sat 24 Jul · Eve: the hoko-nagashi rite on the river and lion dancers through the districtSun 25 Jul · Land procession in mid-afternoon · boat procession from about 18:00 · votive fireworks after dark

Tickets

Free from the bridges and banks, which fill by late afternoon. Times for 2027 are not published yet.

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. Midori · CC BY-SA 3.0
2. Ogiyoshisan · CC BY-SA 3.0
3. Tomi Mäkitalo · CC BY-SA 3.0

Japan's main film festival, the 39th edition: competition premieres, a Japanese cinema strand with English subtitles, and open-air screenings in Hibiya. The easiest ten days of the year to see new Japanese films with subtitles in Tokyo.

Dates

26 Oct – 4 Nov

Where

Hibiya, Yurakucho, Marunouchi, TokyoGoogle Maps

Tickets

Screening tickets go on sale about ten days before; popular titles sell out within the hour.

Holidays

Culture Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-08

Photos

4 photos · credits

1. Dick Thomas Johnson · CC BY 2.0
2. Syced · CC0
3. Dick Thomas Johnson · CC BY 2.0
4. Dick Thomas Johnson · CC BY 2.0

On the days of the rooster in November, shops buy a kumade, a bamboo rake hung with gold coins and masks, to rake in next year’s trade, and each sale is sealed with rhythmic hand-clapping from the stall. The market at Otori Shrine in Asakusa runs for a full 24 hours, from midnight to midnight. In 2026 there are only two rooster days, 7 and 19 November.

Dates

7 Nov

Where

Otori Shrine, Asakusa, TokyoGoogle Maps

Open

Midnight to midnight

Tickets

Free. Go after dark, when the stalls are lit and the clapping is constant; the smallest rakes start at around ¥1,000.

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Mozzucu · CC0
2. Jipanguguru · CC BY 3.0

The autumn thanksgiving of Kitano Tenmangu, on the same five days every year. The farmers of Nishinokyo build a mikoshi whose roof is thatched with zuiki, taro stems, and whose ornaments are all made of vegetables, grains and dried flowers. On the 1st the deity is carried in procession to the otabisho, its resting place in Nishinokyo; on the 4th it returns, and the zuiki mikoshi parades by a route of its own.

Dates

1–5 Oct

Where

Kitano Tenmangu and its otabisho in Nishinokyo, KyotoGoogle Maps

Open

Thu 1 Oct · Shinko-sai: the procession leaves the shrine in the afternoon for the otabishoSun 4 Oct · Kanko-sai: the procession leaves the otabisho at 13:00 and reaches the shrine about 17:00

Tickets

Free. The zuiki mikoshi stands on view at the otabisho from the 1st to the 4th and is taken apart on the 5th.

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-20

Photos

Photo credit

1. lumoplank · CC0

On the days of the rooster in November, shops buy a kumade, a bamboo rake hung with gold coins and masks, to rake in next year’s trade, and each sale is sealed with rhythmic hand-clapping from the stall. The market at Otori Shrine in Asakusa runs for a full 24 hours, from midnight to midnight. In 2026 there are only two rooster days, 7 and 19 November.

Dates

19 Nov

Where

Otori Shrine, Asakusa, TokyoGoogle Maps

Open

Midnight to midnight

Tickets

Free. Go after dark, when the stalls are lit and the clapping is constant; the smallest rakes start at around ¥1,000.

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

2 photos · credits

1. Jipanguguru · CC BY 3.0
2. Mozzucu · CC0

The New Year rite of merchant Osaka: over three days about a million people come to the shrine of Ebisu, god of trade, for a fukuzasa, a bamboo branch given out free, and have the fuku-musume, shrine maidens chosen each year, hang paid charms on it. On the 10th the Hoekago procession of decorated palanquins brings geisha, kabuki actors and bunraku puppets to the shrine.

Dates

9–11 Jan

Where

Imamiya Ebisu Shrine, Naniwa, OsakaGoogle Maps

Open

In 2026 branches were given out 7:00–1:00 on all three days, with the fuku-musume on duty 9:00–21:00Sun 10 Jan · Main day, with the Hoekago palanquin procession to the shrine

Tickets

Free to enter; you pay for the charms hung on the branch. The 10th is the most crowded day.

Holidays

Coming of Age Day · long weekend: expect full trains and hotels

Source

Official site · checked 2026-09-19

Photos

3 photos · credits

1. Mixtribe Photo · CC BY 2.0
2. Ogiyoshisan · CC BY-SA 3.0
3. Mixtribe Photo · CC BY 2.0