Festival guides
Everything around the festivals: how to behave, what to eat and wear, what the floats and charms mean, and the best seasons to go.
By season
New Year in Japan, from temple bells to the first shrine visit
New Year is Japan's biggest holiday. Here is what happens from New Year's Eve to the first days of January, where to hear the temple bells, and how to plan around the closures.
Winter festivals in Japan
Snow sculptures and candle-lit snow huts, mountains set on fire, masked demons coming down from the forest. Winter is the quietest season for travel in Japan and one of the best for festivals. Here is what to see, and how to plan it.
Hatsumōde, the first shrine visit of the year
In the first days of January, tens of millions of people visit a shrine or temple to pray for the year ahead. Here is how to join them, what to do when you arrive, and where to go.
Setsubun: throwing beans at demons on the eve of spring
Every year on February 3, give or take a day, people across Japan throw roasted beans to chase demons out of their homes and shrines. Here is what Setsubun is, what people eat, and where to see the biggest bean-throwing ceremonies.
Hanami: cherry blossoms and spring festivals in Japan
For a week or two each spring, Japan's cherry trees bloom and people gather beneath them to eat, drink and watch the petals fall. Here is when the blossoms open across the country, how to join a hanami picnic, and which festivals fall in blossom season.
Good to know
Festival food in Japan
Takoyaki, yakisoba, shaved ice and sweet amazake. What the stalls at a Japanese festival sell, how to buy, and how to eat without upsetting anyone.
Goshuin, omamori and omikuji: what to take home from a shrine
Almost every shrine and temple in Japan offers something to take home, from a handwritten seal in a stamp book to a charm or a paper fortune. Here is what each one is, how to ask for it, and how to treat it.
How to enjoy a Japanese festival
What a matsuri is, which day to go, what to bring, how to behave around the mikoshi and floats, and which festivals let visitors join in. Everything a first-time visitor needs to know.
Mikoshi, floats and lanterns
What is being carried, pulled and lit up at a Japanese festival, and what it means. A short guide to mikoshi, festival floats, lanterns, torches and the music you will hear.
The Seven Lucky Gods
A fisherman god with a sea bream, a god of plenty on rice bales, a warrior, a goddess with a lute, two old men from China and a laughing monk. Who the Seven Lucky Gods are, where they came from, and where you will meet them.
Wearing a yukata to a festival
The light cotton kimono of summer is what many people wear to festivals and fireworks. How to rent one, how to wear it the right way round, and what to wear with it.