OfficialThis weekend© Kounosu · CC BY-SA 3.0Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri
Teams haul massive wooden festival floats at full sprint through Kishiwada's streets in one of Japan's most thrilling matsuri.
2026/09/19 06:00 OsakaFree
When
Date
City
OfficialThis weekend© Kounosu · CC BY-SA 3.0
OfficialUpcoming© Marine-Blue · CC BY-SA 3.0Nagasaki Kunchi Festival
A 380-year-old shrine festival blending Japanese, Chinese and Dutch flair — spinning dragon dances, whirling umbrella floats and roaring 'Motte-koi' chants.
2026/10/07 07:00 FukuokaFree
OfficialUpcoming© z tanuki · CC BY 3.0Takayama Autumn Festival (Hachiman Matsuri)
Eleven gilded Edo-era floats parade through old Takayama by day, then glow with 100+ lanterns at dusk in one of Japan's three most beautiful festivals.
2026/10/09 09:00 NagoyaFree
OfficialUpcoming© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0Nada no Kenka Matsuri 2026 (Fighting Festival)
Three 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
OfficialUpcoming© 三塚 · CC BY-SA 4.0Kawagoe Matsuri
In Tokyo's 'Little Edo', towering tiered floats with revolving dolls roll past kurazukuri warehouses and clash in 'Hikkawase' flute-and-drum face-offs.
2026/10/17 10:00 TokyoFree
OfficialUpcoming© Corpse Reviver · CC BY-SA 3.0Jidai Matsuri (Festival of the Ages)
A 2-km parade of 2,000 people in meticulously accurate costumes marches through 1,000 years of Kyoto history, from Heian nobles to Meiji revolutionaries.
2026/10/22 12:00 KyotoFree
OfficialUpcoming© ja:User:Si-take. · CC BY-SA 3.0Kurama Fire Festival (Kurama no Hi Matsuri)
Men in loincloths haul flaming 80-kg torches through a mountain village after dark in one of Kyoto's wildest, most primal night festivals.
2026/10/22 18:00 KyotoFree
OfficialUpcoming© そらみみ · CC BY-SA 4.0Hakata Okunchi 2026: Dates, the Ox-Cart Parade & Access
Hakata Okunchi 2026 (Oct 23–24) is Kushida Shrine's free autumn festival in Fukuoka — a 1,200-year harvest rite, famous for the Oct 24 ox-cart procession. Dates, schedule, access.
2026/10/23 10:00 FukuokaFree
OfficialUpcoming© Midori (Wikimedia user) · CC BY-SA 3.0Imari Tonten-ton Festival 2026
One 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
OfficialUpcoming© Pekachu · CC BY-SA 4.0Karatsu Kunchi Festival
Fourteen colossal lacquered floats — golden lions, samurai helmets and dragons up to 7 m tall — are dragged through town and onto a beach where they sink in sand.
2026/11/02 19:30 FukuokaFree
OfficialUpcoming© Fuchu · CC BY-SA 4.0Tori-no-Ichi (Rooster Market)
On November's rooster days, Asakusa's Otori Shrine fills with stalls selling glittering 'kumade' rakes meant to scoop up luck and fortune for the year ahead.
2026/11/07 10:00 TokyoFree
OfficialUpcoming© Katorisi · CC BY 4.0Chichibu Night Festival 2026: Dec 2–3 Dates, Fireworks & Access
Chichibu Night Festival 2026 runs Dec 2 (Wed)–3 (Thu); the main night is Dec 3, when lantern-lit UNESCO floats are hauled up Dangozaka and winter fireworks fill the sky for about two hours. Free to attend; about 80 minutes from Ikebukuro — dates, venue and access below.
2026/12/02 14:00 TokyoFree