OfficialOn nowA 1,300-year-old torchlit tradition: Gifu's Imperial cormorant masters work leashed birds on the Nagara River nightly, May 11-October 15, 2026.
2026/05/11 19:45 Across JapanShared sightseeing boat (2026 rates): ¥4,200 adults / ¥2,100 children on regular days; ¥5,100 adults / ¥2,600 children on peak dates. Watching for free from the riverbank is also possible.
© Douggers · Public Domain
OfficialOn nowMt Fuji 2026: Yoshida & Subashiri open July 1, Fujinomiya & Gotemba July 10 (all close Sept 10). ¥4,000 fee, reservation, and gate rules — every trail.
2026/07/01 Across JapanA trail-entry fee applies (around 2,000-4,000 yen); mountain-hut stays extra
© Cesar I. Martins · CC BY 2.0
OfficialOn nowAround 600,000 sunflowers blaze across the Yatsugatake foothills, lit up after dark for a glowing field beneath the night sky.
2026/07/25 09:00 Across JapanFree
© さかおり (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialOn nowA Guinness-record wall of taiko drums thunders through Morioka as thousands of dancers chant 'Sakkora choiwayasse!'
2026/08/01 18:00 Across JapanFree
© Marho · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialOn nowHirosaki's own summer lantern parade (Aug 1–7, 2026) — fan-shaped floats and a calmer chant that set it apart from nearby Aomori Nebuta.
2026/08/01 19:00 Across JapanFree
© Rosino · CC BY-SA 2.0
OfficialOn nowHakodate Port Festival 2026 (Aug 1–5): free Hokkaido summer festival with opening-night bay fireworks on Aug 1 and the famous Ika Odori squid dance Aug 2–3. Dates, times, access.
2026/08/01 19:45 Across JapanFree
© Raita Futo · CC BY 2.0
OfficialOn nowAomori Nebuta 2026 reserved viewing seats: ¥4,000 prices, the 2026 sale dates (lottery + Jun 27 first-come), how to buy, and access from Tokyo.
2026/08/02 19:00 Across JapanReserved viewing seat ¥4,000 (Aug 7 daytime + fireworks set ¥9,500); handling fee added
© Fisherman · CC BY-SA 3.0OfficialOn nowGiant illuminated warrior floats are paraded through Aomori nightly as chanting dancers leap alongside in a blaze of color.
2026/08/02 19:00 Across JapanFree
© Fisherman · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialOn nowAkita's Kanto Matsuri lights up Kanto Odori with about 280 bamboo poles and 10,000 lanterns, balanced on foreheads, hips and palms like glowing rice sheaves.
2026/08/03 18:45 Across JapanFree
© 掬茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialOn nowPerformers balance towering bamboo poles strung with dozens of glowing lanterns on their palms, foreheads and shoulders.
2026/08/03 18:50 Across JapanFree
© hildgrim · CC BY-SA 2.0
OfficialThis weekendSome 10,000 dancers twirl flower-adorned straw hats to the rhythmic cry of 'Yassho, makasho!' in one of Tohoku's biggest parades.
2026/08/05 18:00 Across JapanFree
© No machine-readable author provided. Crown of Lenten rose assumed (based on copy · Public domain
OfficialThis weekendSendai Tanabata Festival 2026 (Aug 6–8): the fixed dates, the giant paper streamers, the Aug 5 fireworks, 5-min access from Sendai Station, and what to see.
2026/08/06 10:00 Across JapanFree
© 掬茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialThis weekendJapan's grandest star festival drapes Sendai's arcades in thousands of giant, handmade paper streamers.
2026/08/06 10:00 Across JapanFree
© Nesnad · CC BY 3.0
OfficialThis weekendFukushima Waraji Matsuri 2026 (Aug 7–9) parades a 12m, 2-ton straw sandal past the station before offering it to Haguro Shrine.
2026/08/07 18:30 Across JapanFree
© m-sasaki · CC BY 4.0
OfficialThis weekendNiigata Matsuri 2026 runs Aug 7–9: a 15,000-dancer folk parade on the 7th, then a Shinano River fireworks finale on the 9th.
2026/08/07 19:00 Across JapanFree
© DAI-nk · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialThis weekendYosakoi Festival 2026 (Aug 9–12, Kochi): Otesuji grandstand seat prices, the 2026 sale dates (general sale opens Jun 29), how to buy, and how to get there.
2026/08/09 13:15 Across JapanPaid grandstand seats ¥1,000–¥3,000 per session (group/parasol tables ¥15,000–¥50,000)
© Kounosu · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialThis weekendThe original yosakoi: 200+ teams and ~18,000 dancers with naruko clappers thunder through Kochi's streets across four August days.
2026/08/09 17:00 Across JapanFree to watch on the streets; paid reserved (shaded) seats sold for the main venues.
© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingAwa Odori 2026 (Aug 12–15, Tokushima): grandstand seat prices, the 2026 on-sale dates, how to buy via Ticket Pia, and how to get there.
2026/08/12 18:00 Across JapanReserved grandstand ¥1,000 (C) – ¥3,000 (S); Minami-uchimachi SS ¥6,000 / Special ¥15,000
© Kounosu · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingJapan's most famous dance festival: 100,000 dancers and a million spectators fill Tokushima with rhythm every August.
2026/08/12 18:00 Across JapanFree
© Rosino · CC BY-SA 2.0
OfficialUpcomingTottori's Guinness-record umbrella dance returns Aug 13–14, 2026 for its 62nd edition — free to watch along the city-center parade route.
2026/08/13 18:00 Across JapanFree
© KASEI · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingAround 40,000 fireworks erupt over Lake Suwa, their booms echoing off the surrounding mountains in one of central Japan's most spectacular summer displays.
2026/08/15 19:00 Across JapanFree
© Cobalt Fox · Public Domain
OfficialUpcomingMasked dancers in black hikosa-zukin hoods and deep amigasa hats sway through torchlit streets at one of Japan's three great Bon Odori, 700+ years old.
2026/08/16 19:30 Across JapanFree
© 掬茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialUpcomingA thousand women dance through summer night with golden paper lanterns glowing on their heads — Kumamoto's most ethereal festival.
2026/08/16 20:00 Across JapanFree
© MIKI Yoshihito from Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan · CC BY 2.0
OfficialUpcomingWorld-famous taiko ensemble Kodo hosts a three-day island arts festival with thunderous harbour-side concerts under the stars.
2026/08/21 17:00 Across JapanHarbour Concert tickets approx. ¥5,000–7,000 each; fringe events free
© Marco Tambara · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingRoughly 15,000 shells light up the Karasugawa River in under an hour -- the fast, dense fireworks night that opens Gunma's biggest annual festival.
2026/08/22 19:30 Across JapanFree
© Akinori Takemoto · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialUpcomingTwenty towering yatai floats - hand-built from scratch every year and dressed as scenes from kabuki and legend - parade the streets of Shinjo each August 24-26. This 260-plus-year-old UNESCO-listed float festival reaches a milestone in 2026: its 270th staging.
2026/08/24 15:00 Across JapanFree
© Katsutoshi Misawa (克年 三沢) · CC BY 2.0
OfficialUpcomingTo mark the close of Mt. Fuji's climbing season, around seventy three-meter torches blaze along the streets of Fujiyoshida — counted among Japan's three most unusual festivals.
2026/08/26 15:00 Across JapanFree
© Sakaori (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingNoboribetsu's hot-spring Hell Festival returns Aug 29-30, 2026: a giant demon float, the 1-ton Oni Mikoshi, mass demon-dancing and fireworks -- free to attend.
2026/08/29 10:00 Across JapanFree
© Prosperosity · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingJapan's most prestigious pyrotechnic competition, where the nation's top fireworks artisans battle for the Prime Minister's Award.
2026/08/29 17:10 Across JapanReserved seating required for prime spots (paid); riverbank viewing free
© Drivephotographer · CC0
OfficialUpcomingBy lantern light, faceless dancers in straw hats move with hushed grace to mournful kokyu strings through old Yatsuo's stone lanes.
2026/09/01 17:00 Across JapanFree
© さかおり · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialUpcomingPioneering woman conductor Midori Komai gives her farewell concert on Saturday, September 5, 2026 at Kyowa Wing Hakuba Cultural Hall in Nagano — a one-time-only Hakuba Philharmonic Orchestra playing Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and other European favourites. Doors 14:00, performance 15:00–17:00. Advance tickets ¥4,500 (students ¥2,000; under-12 free).
2026/09/05 15:00 Across JapanAdvance ¥4,500 / same-day ¥5,000. Nagano residents ¥3,500; junior- and senior-high students ¥2,000; elementary-age and younger free (a free seat ticket is required if the child uses a seat). Post-event archive streaming is also sold on teket (as of 2026-07-21; confirm current details before buying).
© Licht Philharmonic Project · © Midori Komai Orchestra Project (official promotional photo, used with permission)
OfficialUpcomingEvery September 7-9, the samurai town of Kakunodate fills with towering yama floats carrying warrior dolls by day; after dark comes the yamabuttsuke, when two floats that refuse to yield are rammed together in a thunderous, adrenaline-charged test of nerve.
2026/09/07 09:00 Across JapanFree
© 掬茶 (Kikucha) · CC BY-SA 4.0OfficialUpcomingThe birthplace of the giant 'sanshakudama', this Niigata shrine festival fires the world's largest fireworks shell — a four-shaku, 800kg behemoth.
2026/09/11 19:30 Across JapanFree
© Cobalt Fox · Public Domain
OfficialUpcomingSome 600 people parade in full samurai costume through Aizuwakamatsu in a 'Lord's Procession' honouring the clan that made a famous last stand in Japan's last civil war.
2026/09/19 10:00 Across JapanFree
© Umako · Public domain
OfficialUpcomingChiba's biggest street festival draws up to 800,000 visitors -- and in 2026 it moves from its traditional late-July weekend to September 19-20 because of record summer heat.
2026/09/19 13:00 Across JapanFree
© ヒタチギ · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialUpcomingKumamoto's biggest autumn festival runs Sept 20-21, 2026: about 60 decorated parade horses and a twice-daily armored procession fill the streets, free to watch.
2026/09/20 06:00 Across JapanFree
© そらみみ · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialUpcomingThe beachside successor to TAICOCLUB — a genre-spanning electronic festival in front of Izu's Shirahama Beach.
2026/09/26 11:00 Across JapanTickets ¥16,000–22,000; Under-23 ¥13,000 (accommodation separate)
© tenaciousme from Toronto, Canada · CC BY 2.0
OfficialUpcomingMatsue's castle and canals glow with lanterns every weekend from Sept 26-Oct 18, 2026, 18:00-21:00 -- a quiet, romantic alternative to Japan's big-city illuminations.
2026/09/26 18:00 Across JapanFree
© 663highland · CC BY 2.5
OfficialUpcomingSeven towering floats, each carrying 300+ glowing red lanterns, parade through Fukushima nights to the beat of taiko in one of Japan's three great lantern festivals.
2026/10/03 18:00 Across JapanFree
© Nihonmatsuri · CC BY 4.0
OfficialUpcomingFor three days every October 8-10, Ainu elders at Lake Akan hold sacred kamuinomi prayers, a torchlit lakeside parade, and a ceremonial send-off of the marimo algae balls into the water - a tradition dating to 1950 that protects the lake's famous round colonies, a Japanese Special Natural Monument since 1952.
2026/10/08 10:00 Across JapanFree
© 663highland · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingFourteen giant wooden floats, each topped by a towering doll of a legendary hero, are hauled through the canal-side 'Little Edo' streets of Sawara to lilting Sawara-bayashi music every autumn - October 9-11 in 2026 - in one of the Kanto region's three great float festivals, just a day-trip from Tokyo.
2026/10/09 10:00 Across JapanFree
© katorisi · CC BY 3.0
OfficialUpcomingKonpira-san's biggest festival (Oct 9-11, 2026): once a year the mountain deity 'comes down' -- a ~600-strong procession carries the mikoshi 2km through Kotohira by torchlight.
2026/10/09 16:00 Across JapanFree
© Kanchi1979 · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialUpcomingSome 33,000 round kochia bushes turn Miharashi Hill a blazing crimson each October, a fluffy red carpet rolling toward the Pacific Ocean.
2026/10/10 09:30 Across JapanAdults (high-school+) from ¥450; price rises during peak kochia season
© Internet Archive Book Images · No restrictions
OfficialUpcomingOne of the world's most respected boutique raves — a Funktion-One sound system in the Gunma mountains, lineup kept secret.
2026/10/10 12:00 Across Japan~¥23,000 (Under-28) to ¥29,000; includes camping
© photo: Qurren (talk) Taken with Canon PowerShot G9 X · CC BY-SA 3.0OfficialUpcomingThree portable shrines are violently crashed together as seven ornate floats clash in Japan's most famous 'fighting festival.'
2026/10/14 10:00 Across JapanFree
© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0OfficialUpcomingFifty-four golden, 5.5-metre taiko-dai floats are hoisted by 150-strong crews in one of Shikoku's three great festivals.
2026/10/16 08:00 Across JapanFree
© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingWalk ancient moss-covered pilgrimage paths through the forested Kii Mountains to sacred Kumano shrines, a UNESCO World Heritage route.
2026/10/17 08:00 Across JapanFree
© Subramaniam K V · CC BY 3.0OfficialUpcomingOne of Japan's three great 'fighting' festivals, where teams ram a giant drum-float and mikoshi together to a thundering 'ton-ten-ton' beat.
2026/10/24 10:00 Across JapanFree
© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0OfficialUpcomingOne of the Kanto region's largest illuminations blankets a hillside German-themed park in millions of lights, best seen from its observation wheel.
2026/10/31 16:00 Across JapanPaid: adults ¥1,500, children (age 4–elementary) ¥800; parking from ¥1,000.
© Cobalt Fox · Public Domain
OfficialUpcomingJapan's largest illumination floods a European-style canal town with millions of lights every night of the year across this Nagasaki resort.
2026/11/01 17:00 Across JapanPark admission ticket required (varies by plan)
© Jorge Láscar from Australia · CC BY 2.0
OfficialUpcomingThe original Kagoshima Ohara Matsuri (Nov 2–3, 2026) fills Tenmonkan with 16,500+ dancers — not to be confused with Tokyo's May Shibuya version.
2026/11/02 18:50 Across JapanFree
© Sanjo · CC BY-SA 4.0OfficialUpcomingOne of Japan's three great fireworks competitions, where rival pyrotechnicians fire 20,000 shells over the Sakuragawa river to be crowned the nation's best.
2026/11/07 17:30 Across JapanFree
© Cobalt Fox · Public Domain
OfficialUpcomingEvery god in Japan is said to gather at Izumo Taisha for Kamiari-zuki (Nov 9-Dec 8, 2026) -- the one shrine where the 'godless month' becomes the 'month with gods'.
2026/11/18 19:00 Across JapanFree
© senngokujidai4434 · CC BY 2.0
OfficialUpcomingFrom nightly hour-long showings at Takachiho Shrine to the free two-day, all-33-dance Yokagura Matsuri and month-long hamlet sessions each winter, Takachiho Yokagura is one of Kyushu's most accessible sacred night rituals -- a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property since 1978.
2026/11/22 18:00 Across JapanFree
© David Stanley · CC BY 2.0
OfficialUpcomingWild Japanese macaques bathe in a steaming mountain hot spring as snow falls around them — the world-famous 'snow monkeys' of Nagano, most iconic in winter.
2026/12/01 08:30 Across JapanPark admission around ¥800; the 'Snow Monkey Pass' (~¥3,500) bundles transport and entry.
© Daisuke tashiro from Japan · CC BY-SA 2.0
OfficialUpcomingAt one of Japan's top hot-spring towns, kimono-clad locals cool the scalding spring water with long wooden paddles in time to folk songs — a centuries-old daily ritual at Netsunoyu.
2026/12/01 09:30 Across JapanAdults ¥700, elementary children ¥350
© Suicasmo · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialUpcomingSix lantern-lit floats are hauled up steep Dango-zaka as winter fireworks burst overhead — one of Japan's three great float festivals and a UNESCO heritage event.
2026/12/03 18:00 Across JapanFree
© Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
OfficialUpcomingWind, snow and ice encase the alpine firs into surreal white 'snow monsters'; ride the ropeway up and see them glow under colored floodlights at night.
2026/12/26 17:00 Across JapanFree outdoors; Zao Ropeway round-trip fare (several thousand yen) to reach the summit juhyo.
© Raita Futo from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY 2.0
OfficialUpcomingFamous as Japan's earliest-blooming plum grove, Atami Bairin opens its winter ume from early January with taiko, geisha dances and hot-spring charm.
2027/01/09 09:00 Across JapanModest garden admission during the festival (recent years a few hundred yen).
© Ogata Kōrin · Public domainOfficialUpcomingOne of Japan's three great fire festivals: villagers defend a giant wooden shrine with blazing torches as attackers try to set it alight in a wild snowbound battle.
2027/01/15 19:00 Across JapanFree
© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0OfficialUpcomingIn a Daisetsuzan gorge, ice domes and towers fill a riverside field, lit nightly in shifting colors with weekend fireworks over the snow.
2027/01/23 13:00 Across JapanCooperation fee around ¥500 (junior-high+); free for younger children.
© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcoming**Kobe Luminarie 2027 runs Jan 29 (Fri) – Feb 7 (Sun), 2027** — the 32nd edition. You can see the light arches **free from the surrounding streets**; the special **paid zones at Meriken Park** need a ticket (advance ¥500 weekday / ¥750 weekend, as of July 2026). All three venues are walkable from Sannomiya Station.
2027/01/29 18:00 Across JapanFree
© Yoyogimura · CC BY-SA 4.0OfficialUpcomingSumo wrestlers and celebrity 'lucky men' hurl tonnes of beans from Naritasan's great hall, where the chant is only 'fortune in' — no demons to expel.
2027/02/03 11:00 Across JapanFree
© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0OfficialUpcomingNagasaki Lantern Festival 2027's official dates: Feb 5–21 (17 days), free to view. ~15,000 red Chinese lanterns and giant zodiac lantern objects light central Nagasaki nightly from 17:00–22:00, with a daily dragon dance and parades.
2027/02/05 17:00 Across JapanFree
© Cobalt Fox · Public Domain
OfficialUpcomingJapan's earliest cherry blossoms: about 850 vivid pink Kawazu-zakura line a 4km stretch of the Kawazu River in Izu, blooming a month before Tokyo's sakura.
2027/02/06 09:00 Across JapanFree
© Kirin7739 · CC0OfficialUpcomingDemon-masked 'namahage' brandishing torches stampede down a snowy mountainside at Shinzan Shrine in a fierce, firelit Oga winter spectacle.
2027/02/12 18:00 Across JapanFree
© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingRoughly 3,000 plum trees in over 60 varieties scent one of Japan's Three Great Gardens, drawing crowds for taiko, tea ceremony and geisha dances.
2027/02/13 08:00 Across JapanInner garden ~¥300 for non-residents; festival grounds largely free.
© Etwas Neues · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingHundreds of candlelit snow igloos glow across Yokote while children inside invite passersby in for sweet sake — plus 4,000 mini-kamakura lighting the riverbed.
2027/02/15 18:00 Across JapanFree
© Rarisan · CC0
OfficialUpcomingEvery February 17-20, dozens of Enburi troupes dance through Hachinohe in tall black eboshi hats to summon an early spring and good harvest - a roughly 800-year-old rite tracing to the Kamakura era, now a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.
2027/02/17 07:00 Across JapanFree
© Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingThousands of loincloth-clad men pack a freezing temple hall at midnight, surging to seize two sacred shingi sticks flung into the throng — one of Japan's wildest rites.
2027/02/20 22:00 Across JapanFree
© Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain
OfficialUpcomingOn March 3 across Japan, families display tiered hina dolls of the Heian court to wish for girls' health, amid peach blossoms and sweet hishi-mochi.
2027/03/03 Across JapanFree
© 掬茶 · CC BY-SA 3.0OfficialUpcomingJapan's hot-spring capital throws its biggest party of the year — a fire festival on Mount Ogi, free baths across the city and a mikoshi parade thanking the springs.
2027/04/01 11:00 Across JapanFree
© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingKofu's streets fill with roughly 1,500 armour-clad marchers and around 30 horses re-enacting the Koshu army's departure for battle - a Guinness World Record 'largest gathering of people dressed as samurai,' held on the first weekend of April.
2027/04/02 12:00 Across JapanFree
© 江戸村のとくぞう (Edomura no Tokuzo) · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialUpcomingOn the night of April 19, hundreds of near-naked men carry a giant drum on a tall wooden tower through Hida-Furukawa while rival neighborhood teams charge in to plant their small drums against it - the wild Okoshi-daiko, heart of a UNESCO-listed festival that also parades nine ornate floats on the 20th.
2027/04/19 09:00 Across JapanFree
© teru · Public domain
OfficialUpcomingAround 2,600 cherry trees encircle Hirosaki Castle's moats, famous for petal-carpeted 'flower rafts' and dazzling nighttime illuminations.
2027/04/23 09:00 Across JapanFree
© 掬茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialUpcomingA beloved open-air house & techno festival held over Golden Week on a hilltop in Higashi-Izu (next edition dates TBA).
2027/05/01 10:00 Across JapanMulti-tier passes plus camping/parking (see official site)
© 要塞騎士 · CC0OfficialUpcomingGiant kites duel over the Nakatajima dunes by day; by night, illuminated palace-style floats and brass bands fill downtown Hamamatsu.
2027/05/03 10:00 Across JapanFree
© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcomingHundreds of riders in full samurai armour thunder across Fukushima's coast for armoured horse races and a wild scramble to catch sacred flags shot into the sky.
2027/05/29 09:00 Across JapanThe main-day grounds (Hibarigahara) are ticketed for grandstand seating; street processions are free to watch. Exact 2027 dates (last weekend of May) confirmed in advance.
© Hajime NAKANO · CC BY 2.0
OfficialUpcomingFor five days every July 31-August 4, 27 towering, gold-leafed floats and three shrines' mikoshi processions fill Hachinohe's streets - a 300-year-old harvest-thanksgiving festival and UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage that draws over a million visitors.
2027/07/31 18:00 Across JapanFree
© 8-Forest · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialPast eventJapan's largest illumination: millions of LEDs transform a flower park near Nagoya into glowing tunnels and light shows.
2026/01/15 17:00 Across JapanAdmission around 2,500 yen (includes a park voucher)
© おにく · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialPast eventGlowing arches of hundreds of thousands of lights fill Kobe each winter, a moving memorial turned beloved festival.
2026/01/23 18:00 Across JapanFree
© kimubert · CC BY 2.0
OfficialPast eventA UNESCO World Heritage village of steep thatched gassho-zukuri farmhouses, nestled in a mountain valley that turns magical under snow.
2026/02/15 09:00 Across JapanFree
© 雷太 · CC BY 2.0
OfficialPast eventKobe's waterfront glitters after dark — the red Port Tower, illuminated promenade and bay views make for a relaxed romantic evening.
2026/06/28 17:00 Across JapanFree
© Brett Fagan · CC0OfficialPast eventOne of the Kanto region's largest Tanabata festivals, where central Hiratsuka disappears beneath giant, gaudy bamboo streamers up to ten metres tall.
2026/07/03 10:00 Across JapanFree
© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialPast eventA mountain hot-spring resort near Mt. Fuji, combining steaming onsen, a sculpture park, a pirate-ship lake cruise and ropeway views.
2026/07/04 09:00 Across JapanOnsen and museum entries vary; a Hakone Free Pass saves on transport
© Suicasmo · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialPast eventAn island in the Seto Inland Sea reborn as living art, with Tadao Ando museums, a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin and outdoor installations.
2026/07/05 10:00 Across JapanMuseum tickets vary; Chichu Art Museum needs advance booking
© 663highland · CC BY 2.5
OfficialPast eventWorld-touring taiko troupe DRUM TAO performs a 45-minute show at its own open-air theatre, perched at 1,036m in the grasslands of Aso-Kuju National Park. Thunderous drumming, athletic choreography and sweeping highland views.
2026/07/07 14:00 Across JapanAdults (junior-high+) ¥4,500; children (4+) ¥2,500; under 3 free. Spring/autumn shows at 14:00.
© Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialPast eventGerman beer festivals tour Japan's cities each year with imported brews, sausages and live oompah bands.
2026/07/08 12:00 Across JapanFree
© Nesnad · CC BY 4.0
OfficialPast eventA celebrated contemporary art festival scattered across the islands of the Seto Inland Sea, blending installations with fishing-village life.
2026/07/13 09:00 Across JapanPassport tickets cover many sites; some works charge separately
© 663highland · CC BY 2.5
OfficialPast eventTwelve fan-shaped portable shrines representing the gods meet a procession of giant 50-kilogram flaming torches before Japan's tallest waterfall — one of the country's three great fire festivals.
2026/07/14 10:00 Across JapanFree
© Internet Archive Book Images · No restrictions
OfficialPast eventA four-day camping techno & house festival in the Fukushima highlands, running nonstop through the night since 2009.
2026/07/17 13:00 Across Japan4-day full pass ~¥25,000; Under-25 ¥14,000; Tohoku-resident ¥15,000
© Σ64 · CC BY 3.0
OfficialPast eventA pristine alpine valley in the Northern Japan Alps, with the Kappa Bridge, clear Azusa River and jagged peaks rising all around.
2026/07/18 06:00 Across JapanFree
© skyseeker · CC BY 2.0
OfficialPast eventSado Island's 140th Kozan Matsuri (Jul 25-26) pairs a gold-mine shrine ritual with a town-wide Okesa dance through Aikawa and fireworks over the harbor.
2026/07/25 10:00 Across JapanFree
© Hasui Kawase · Public domain
OfficialPast event21,000 fireworks over Lake Shinji across two nights (Aug 1-2, 2026) -- one of western Japan's biggest lake firework shows, with a drone show opening night one.
2026/08/01 20:00 Across JapanPaid reserved seating in 3 lakeside areas (Kohoku, Shirakata, Konan) went on sale June 6, 2026; free public viewing spots are also available around the lake.
© MaedaAkihiko · CC BY-SA 4.0
OfficialPast eventNagaoka's 2026 reserved seats sold out June 17 — the official resale opens July 6 (Japan residents only). Here's the resale route, the unauthorized-resale warning, and where you can still watch for free.
2026/08/02 19:20 Across JapanReserved seats sold out; official resale only (Japan residents), approx. ¥1,000-¥48,000 face value by tier
© Cp9asngf · CC BY-SA 3.0OfficialPast eventOne of Japan's three great fireworks festivals, famed for the colossal 'Phoenix' shells fired across the Shinano River as a prayer for peace.
2026/08/02 19:20 Across JapanFree
© Cp9asngf · CC BY-SA 3.0