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★THE TRIP HYPE✦Japan’s now, delivered pop★MODERN VOYAGE & TECH✦Food · Shopping · Things to Do · Know-How · Culture★THE TRIP HYPE✦Japan’s now, delivered pop★MODERN VOYAGE & TECH✦Food · Shopping · Things to Do · Know-How · Culture

Tag · Audience

#Festival

Japanese festivals (matsuri) — from mikoshi parades and fireworks to bon odori and street fairs. Covers traditional seasonal events and local shrine festivals across Japan.

60 articles

Rows of glowing paper lanterns strung on bamboo poles against the night sky at the Akita Kanto Festival, each brushed with kanji and clustered like ears of rice.

Akita Kanto Festival 2026 (August 3–6): Which Night to Go — Tickets, Food Stalls, Drone Show

Tanabata streamers at the Sendai Tanabata Festival, with rows of colorful decorative balls and long paper streamers hanging from a covered shopping arcade.

Sendai Tanabata Festival 2026: Dates Aug 6–8, Fireworks the Night Before on Aug 5

The Aomori Nebuta Festival at night, with a giant, vividly colored illuminated float (nebuta) depicting a warrior and horse, surrounded by happi-coated pullers and spectators.

Aomori Nebuta 2026: Day-by-Day Schedule, Dancing as a Haneto, and the Aug 7 Water Parade + Fireworks

The fireworks festival at Showa Kinen Park, with colorful large bursts in blue, pink, and gold filling the night sky and the lights of spectators and food stalls below.

Tachikawa Fireworks 2026 (Showa Kinen Park): Tickets Are Gone. Where to Watch Free, and Which Gate to Use

Shinobazu Pond in Ueno, where a railed boardwalk leads across a vast expanse of lotus leaves toward the green-roofed Bentendo temple hall and surrounding trees under a cloudy sky.

Shinobazu Pond Lotus 2026: Ueno's Early-Morning Bloom (Best Time & Access)

A six-photo collage of iconic Japanese summer scenes: an Awa Odori dance troupe parading through evening streets, a sunflower field under blue sky, Tanabata streamers beside a five-story pagoda, a shaved-ice ("kōri") shop banner, fireworks bursting in the night sky, and fireworks over the river beside Tokyo Skytree.

Tokyo Summer 2026: Every Festival & Fireworks Show, in Date Order

A temple approach shopping street (Nakamise) decorated for a summer furin (wind chime) market: rows of colorful glass wind chimes with paper strips overhead, blue banners, five-color Buddhist flags, and senbei and other shops, with a temple gate in the distance. Signage reads "Kawasaki Daishi."

Kawasaki Daishi Wind Chime Festival 2026: 800+ Furin Near Tokyo, Dates & Daruma Charm

Three cups of Japanese shaved ice (kakigori) in classic penguin-print cups—yellow lemon, pink strawberry, and blue Hawaii—lined up on a bamboo mat with blurred blue morning glory flowers in the background.

Kakigori: Japan's Shaved Ice, and Where to Eat It in 2026

A summer night festival, rows of glowing paper lanterns lighting the path as crowds stroll beneath them

Mitama Matsuri 2026: 30,000 Lanterns at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine (July 13–16)

Potted morning glories trained on round trellises lined up at a morning glory fair, with pink and blue-purple blooms and paper charm tags reading "Iriya Asagao-ichi" hanging from the pots.

Iriya Morning Glory Fair 2026: Tokyo's Early-July Flower Market (Dates, Access & Tips)

Food stalls and a lively nighttime crowd at a Japanese summer festival

A Guide to Japanese Summer Festivals (Matsuri) in 2026: Food Stalls, Yukata, Etiquette, and Where to Go

Two people in an indigo yukata and a blue striped kimono stand on a stone-paved lane, lined with traditional wooden buildings, each holding a handbag.

How to Wear a Yukata in Tokyo (2026): Rent in Asakusa, the One Collar Rule, and Fireworks Dates

Red and green fireworks burst over a river at a Japanese summer festival, with lantern-decorated boats along the bank and illuminated trees and city lights reflected in the water.

Tenjin Matsuri 2026: The Complete Guide to Osaka's Boat Procession and Fireworks (July 24-25)

Gion Matsuri yoiyama in Kyoto, with the Minami Kannon Yama float lit by rows of paper lanterns — white lanterns bearing tomoe crests and red lanterns reading "Minami Kannon Yama" — glowing at dusk.

Gion Matsuri 2026: A First-Timer's Guide to Kyoto's Float Processions (July 17 & 24), Yoiyama Nights & Seats

Tokyo Skytree lit up in green beside a burst of pink fireworks over the Sumida River, with an illuminated arched bridge and light reflections on the water at night (Sumida River Fireworks Festival)

Sumida River Fireworks 2026 (July 25): Where to Watch Tokyo's 20,000-Firework Show for Free, Plus Access & Crowd Tips

Colorful Tanabata streamers and Shitamachi Tanabata Festival lanterns line Kappabashi Hondori at night, with Tokyo Skytree lit blue in the distance

Shitamachi Tanabata Festival 2026: Asakusa's 1.2km Street of Wishes (July 3-7)

A Hōzuki-ichi market sign reading "Asakusa Hōzuki-ichi" and "Shimanrokusennichi," illustrated with red hōzuki (ground cherries), with Edo glass wind bells and paper strips in front.

Asakusa Hōzuki-ichi 2026: Sensō-ji's Ground-Cherry Market on July 9–10 (and the 46,000-Day Blessing)

Hie Shrine's distinctive gabled Sanno torii gate in Akasaka, its "Sanno Hie Jinja" plaque at center, with a modern Tokyo high-rise rising behind

Sanno Matsuri 2026: Tokyo's Grand “Shogun's Festival” Returns June 7-17 — Don't Miss the Once-Every-2-Years Procession on June 12

Pokémon GO Fest 2026: Tokyo event venue at Odaiba Seaside Park

Pokémon GO Fest 2026 Tokyo: Everything Travelers Need to Know About the 10th-Anniversary Mega Event in Odaiba

Asakusa Sanja Matsuri — Nakamise-dori Street

Sanja Matsuri 2026: Your Guide to Tokyo’s Most Energetic Mikoshi Festival in Asakusa

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