Highlights
- Hauntingly elegant dance by lantern light
- Rare kokyu (bowed string) accompaniment
- Atmospheric old townscape of Yatsuo
Background & story
Held for around 300 years as a prayer to calm the autumn typhoon winds and protect the rice harvest, it is among Japan's most poetic and refined folk festivals.
Good to know for visitors
- Getting there
- From Etchu-Yatsuo Station (JR Takayama Line); shuttle buses run from Toyama Station Open directions in Google Maps ↗
- Booking & entry
- Free to attend — details on the official page (button above).
- Language
- Mostly in Japanese — a translation app on your phone helps.
- Good for
- culture seekers, date night, solo-goers
Good to know
Dancing peaks late into the night — stay over, as the last performances are the most magical.
Getting there
Yatsuo old town, Toyama — Yatsuomachi, Toyama, Toyama 939-2342