Events & Gatherings

Festival Chubu G

例年7月中旬〜9月上旬（約30夜）

Gujo Odori

Hachiman, Gujo, Gifu

Every summer evening from July 11 to September 5 — thirty-one nights in all — music rises from the streets of Gujo Hachi

Market Chubu J

Daily

Jinya-mae Morning Market

岐阜県高山市八軒町1-5

Every morning, farmers come down from the mountain villages and set up their stalls in front of a government house that

Community Chubu M

Daily

Miyagawa Morning Market

Miyagawa riverside (Kajibashi to Yayoibashi), Shimosan-no-machi, Takayama, Gifu

White canvas stalls line the east bank of the Miyagawa River for seven hundred meters, from Kajibashi bridge to Yayoibas

Market Chubu O

Daily

Omicho Market

50 Kami-Omichocho, Kanazawa, Ishikawa

Locals call it Omicho. The market opened in 1721, during the era of the Kaga domain, when a fire destroyed several mark

Gathering Chubu E

Year-round

Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale

Tokamachi, Niigata (Echigo-Tsumari region)

Echigo-Tsumari sits in the mountains along the border of Niigata and Nagano prefectures — a region of extraordinary snow

Festival Chubu O

Daily

Ojiya Bullfighting (Ushi no Tsukiai)

Ojiya Bullfighting Arena, Oguriyama, Ojiya, Niigata

There is no winner. Every bout ends in a draw. In the mountains of Echigo, a tradition said to be nearly a thousand year

Gathering Chubu N

Daily

Northern Alps Art Festival

Omachi and the surrounding hills and lakes, Nagano

In a town raised by snowmelt, you look at art. Omachi in Nagano sits right at the foot of the Northern Alps, peaks of th

Residency Chubu N

Daily

Nanmoku Mountain Village Study Program

Nanmoku, Kanra District, Gunma

From the most aged village in Japan. Nanmoku in Gunma is said to have one of the highest proportions of elderly resident

Residency Chubu H

Daily

Hida-Furukawa Artisan Town Stay

Furukawa, Hida, Gifu

In a town where carp swim, you face the wood. Hida-Furukawa in Gifu has rows of white-walled storehouses, and hundreds o

Market Chubu K

毎月第1日曜（早朝〜午前中）

Kasugai Mitake Onsen Morning Market: First Sunday of Every Month

Mitake Onsen grounds, Uchinai, Kasugai City, Aichi

Once a month, on the first Sunday, the grounds of Mitake Onsen in Kasugai become a morning market. Farmers from the surr

Gathering Chubu T

4月中旬〜6月下旬

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route: The Snow Corridor

Murodo, Tateyama Alpine Route, Toyama

Each spring, Japan turns a snow-removal project into a pilgrimage. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, threading the North

Gathering Chubu G

通年（12月〜3月は冬季ライトアップあり）

Gero Onsen Gassho Village

2369 Mori, Gero City, Gifu

Gero is one of Japan's three most celebrated hot spring towns, which means most visitors come for the baths and leave wi

Workshop Chubu E

通年（要予約）

Echizen Washi: Making Paper in a Valley That Has Made Paper for 1,500 Years

8-44 Shizaike, Echizen City, Fukui

The Echizen valley has been making paper for fifteen hundred years — a claim that sounds like marketing until you see th

Workshop Chubu M

通年（各体験施設による）

Mino Ware: Shaping the Dishes Japan Eats From

Hisashiri, Izumi, Toki City, Gifu

Sixty percent of Japan's ceramic tableware comes from the Mino region — the dishes in most Japanese restaurants, the cup

Workshop Chubu S

通年（各体験施設による）

Shigaraki Yaki: Firing a Kiln That Has Burned for Eight Centuries

Shigaraki-cho, Koka City, Shiga

Shigaraki is known throughout Japan for one thing: the ceramic raccoon dogs that stand outside restaurants and shops, ar

Workshop Chubu W

通年（各工房の復旧状況による）

Wajima Chinkin: Engraving Gold into Lacquer After the Earthquake

Wajima City, Ishikawa

The January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake damaged Wajima severely — buildings collapsed, fires spread through the histo

Workshop Chubu K

通年（各体験施設による）

Kiso Lacquerware: Painting with Tree Sap in a Postroad Town

Narai, Shiojiri City / Kisomura, Nagano

The Kiso Valley was a section of the Nakasendo — one of the two great highways between Edo and Kyoto — and its post town

Residency Chubu O

通年

Obuse: The Small Town That Chose Art and Kept Its Soul

Obuse Town, Kamitakai-gun, Nagano

Obuse is a town of ten thousand people in northern Nagano, and it receives more visitors than a town of that size would

Residency Chubu S

通年

Sado Island: Where Gold, Noh, and Terraced Rice Fields Meet

Sado City, Niigata

Sado Island sits in the Sea of Japan off the Niigata coast, large enough to have its own distinct geography — a northern

Residency Chubu I

通年（公演は主に春〜秋）

Iida: Where Every Village Has Its Own Puppet Theater

Iida City, Nagano

Iida City in southern Nagano is said to have more than two hundred puppet theater groups distributed across its villages

Festival Chubu N

例年8月上旬

North Lake Biwa Grand Fireworks Festival

Nagahama Port, Nagahama, Shiga

Fire reflects in the largest lake in Japan. Lake Biwa is vast—an inland sea in all but name—and on its northern shore, f

Festival Chubu T

例年7月中旬

Toyohashi Gion Festival Hand-Held Fireworks

Yoshida Shrine, Toyohashi, Aichi

Here a man holds the fireworks in his arms. The tezutsu is a hand-held firework—gunpowder packed into a length of bamboo

Festival Chubu S

例年7月下旬

Shirako Beach Fireworks Festival

Shirako Beach, Suzuka, Mie

Fire scatters over the Ise sea. Shirako, part of Suzuka in Mie, is a seaside town on Ise Bay—a place of craftsmen, famou

craft Chubu T

通年（要予約・工房により異なる）

Tsubame-Sanjo Metal Crafts Experience

Tsubame-Sanjo, Niigata

You step into a town that makes things. Tsubame-Sanjo, two neighboring cities in Niigata, is a metalworking center known

craft Chubu M

通年（要予約）

Mino Washi Papermaking Experience

Washi no Sato Kaikan, Mino City, Gifu

You make paper that has been made for thirteen hundred years. In Mino, a town of clear rivers in Gifu, the craft of wash

craft Chubu K

通年（要予約）

Kaga Yuzen Dyeing Experience

Nagamachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa

You dye the colors of old Kaga. Kanazawa, seat of the wealthy Maeda lords who ruled the Kaga domain, nurtured its own st

craft Chubu S

通年（要予約・施設により異なる）

Seki Blade Sharpening Experience

Hamono Kaikan, Seki City, Gifu

You touch the blade in the city of swords. Seki has made cutting tools for seven hundred years—once the producer of lege

craft Chubu T

通年（要予約・工房により異なる）

Tokoname Yaki Pottery Experience

Tokoname Pottery Road, Tokoname, Aichi

You knead clay in a town of chimneys. Tokoname is one of the Six Ancient Kilns of Japan, a pottery town with a thousand

Festival Chubu K

例年11月中旬〜下旬が見頃

Korankei: A Valley Planted One Tree at a Time

Korankei, Asuke, Toyota, Aichi

In November, four thousand maples change color in the hills of Mikawa. Korankei is a gorge cut by the Tomoe River as it

Gathering Chubu S

例年初夏〜秋（島内各地）

Sado Firelight Noh

The island has more than thirty Noh stages. Sado was a place of exile, and the exiles brought the arts of the capital w

Festival Chubu N

例年4月中旬

Nagahama Hikiyama Festival

Children perform kabuki. At the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival in April, child kabuki is staged atop ornate floats—boys bet

Festival Chubu S

例年4月上旬

Shingen-ko Festival

The army of the Takeda returns. At the Shingen-ko Festival in April, the streets of Kofu fill with armored warriors rec

Festival Chubu T

例年2月中旬〜下旬の金・土・日曜（3日間）

Tokamachi Snow Festival: The Town That Invented Celebrating Snow

Central Tokamachi and sites across the city, Niigata

Tokamachi, in the mountains of Niigata, receives some of the heaviest snowfall of any city in the world—two meters stand

Gathering Chubu N

例年10月中旬〜翌5月末

Nabana no Sato: Half a Year of Light Outside Nagoya

Nabana no Sato, Nagashima, Kuwana, Mie

Nabana no Sato is a flower park on the edge of Kuwana, between Nagoya and the sea, and for more than half the year—mid-a

Festival Chubu O

3月中旬の土日

Omihachiman Sagicho Festival

Himure Hachimangu, Omihachiman, Shiga

In mid-March, on the weekend nearest the 14th and 15th, the canal town of Omihachiman on Lake Biwa's eastern shore burns

Festival Chubu T

12月上旬〜中旬

Toyama Shimotsuki Matsuri (Winter Kagura)

Shrines of the Toyama valley, Iida, Nagano

The blessing arrives as a splash of boiling water, flung at you by a masked god with his bare hand. In the Toyama valley

Gathering Chubu H

毎年12月1日〜2月頃

Himi Winter Yellowtail Fair

Himi fishing port and restaurants, Himi, Toyama

Himi, a fishing town on Toyama Bay, has something few food destinations possess: an official declaration of honesty. Eac

Festival Chubu H

11月上旬〜1月中旬

Hanamatsuri (Okumikawa Winter Kagura)

Hamlets of Toei, Okumikawa, Aichi

Deep in the mountains of eastern Aichi, the small town of Toei spends its winter awake. From early November to mid-Janua

Festival Chubu Y

例年9月下旬の土日2日間

Yamanaka Onsen Koikoi Matsuri

Around Yamanakaza, Yamanaka Onsen, Kaga, Ishikawa

Koikoi means come, come. It is not addressed to the gods or to the town but to the guests: the people staying in the inn

Festival Chubu T

例年9月中旬〜10月上旬が見頃

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route

Ashikuraji, Tateyama, Toyama

Japan's autumn begins somewhere in the middle of September, and it begins here. Murodo sits at 2,450 metres on the Tatey

Festival Chubu K

例年9月下旬〜10月上旬が見頃

Karasawa

Azumi, Matsumoto, Nagano

Getting there takes about six hours on foot, and there is no other way. From Kamikochi the trail follows the Azusa River

Festival Chubu S

例年10月上旬〜下旬が見頃

Shinhotaka

Okuhida Onsengo, Takayama, Gifu

The interesting thing about Shinhotaka is the vertical distance. The ropeway lifts you from the floor of the Okuhida val

Festival Chubu K

例年10月下旬〜11月上旬が見頃

Kiyotsu-kyo

Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel, Tokamachi, Niigata

The colour season at Kiyotsu runs mid-October to mid-November, with the peak from late October into the first days of No

Festival Chubu K

例年10月下旬〜11月下旬が見頃

Kurobe Gorge

Unazuki Station, Kurobe, Toyama

The season at Kurobe runs long, late October to late November. The reason for the length is vertical. The gorge drops se

Festival Chubu S

例年10月中旬〜11月下旬が見頃

Shosenkyo

Sengataki, Kofu, Yamanashi

Shosenkyo holds its season from mid-October to late November, a month and a half in one valley. Shosenkyo is a gorge wit

Festival Chubu T

例年10月下旬〜11月上旬が見頃

Tsukechi-kyo

Tsukechi-kyo, Nakatsugawa, Gifu

At Tsukechi-kyo the colour runs late October to early November, over water that stays blue all year. The gorge lies in t

Festival Chubu K

例年11月中旬〜下旬が見頃

Kaochidani

Kaochidani, Nabari, Mie

Kaochidani colours in the second half of November — mid-month to late, a fortnight behind most of the gorges further nor

Festival Chubu Y

例年11月上旬〜中旬が見頃

Yahiko Park

Yahiko Park, Yahiko, Nishikanbara, Niigata

Yahiko Park begins where the station platform ends — you are inside the grounds within a minute of stepping off the trai

Festival Chubu N

例年11月上旬〜下旬が見頃

Natadera Temple

Natadera, Yu-122 Natamachi, Komatsu, Ishikawa

Natadera is said to date from 717, which puts thirteen centuries behind the rock this temple is built into. The colour r

Festival Chubu S

例年11月上旬〜下旬が見頃

Sumatakyo Gorge

Sumatakyo Gorge, Senzu, Kawanehon, Haibara, Shizuoka

The water at Sumatakyo is green — properly green, a colour photographs get accused of inventing — and in November the tr

Festival Chubu A

例年11月上旬〜下旬が見頃

Akame 48 Waterfalls

Akame 48 Waterfalls, 861-1 Akamecho Nagasaka, Nabari, Mie

Akame is a four-kilometre climb up the Taki river, waterfall after waterfall, with the sound of water never stopping onc

Festival Chubu K

例年11月中旬〜下旬が見頃

Kenrokuen

Kenrokuen, 1 Kenrokumachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa

By the middle of November, Kenrokuen is running two seasons at once. The maples are at their peak — mid to late month —

Festival Chubu Y

例年11月中旬〜12月上旬が見頃

Yoro Park

Yoro Park, 1298-2 Takabayashi, Yoro, Gifu

Yoro Park is a tunnel you walk through, made of maples. The trees reach over the path from both sides and meet above it,

Festival Chubu M

例年11月中旬〜12月上旬が見頃

Muroji Temple

Muroji, 78 Muro, Uda, Nara

The cold does the work at Muroji. The temple stands deep in the mountains of eastern Uda, where mornings and evenings bi

Festival Chubu K

例年10月中旬〜下旬が見頃

Kamikochi

Kappa Bridge, Kamikochi, Azumi, Matsumoto, Nagano

You cannot drive into Kamikochi. The valley sits at about 1,500 metres in the Northern Alps, and private cars have been

Festival Chubu T

例年11月上旬〜中旬が見頃

Tenryukyo Gorge

Tenryukyo Gorge, Kawaji, Iida, Nagano

This gorge has been formally declared a good place to write poems in. In the autumn of 2009 the local committee issued t

Festival Chubu E

例年11月上旬〜中旬が見頃

Eiheiji Temple

Daihonzan Eiheiji, 5-15 Shihi, Eiheiji, Yoshida District, Fukui

You come for the maples and spend most of the visit indoors. Eiheiji climbs the side of a wooded mountain in Fukui, and

Festival Chubu O

例年4月上旬〜中旬が見頃

Ohkouzu Diversion Cherry Avenue

Ohkouzu Diversion, Gosengoku, Tsubame, Niigata

These trees were planted to commemorate an engineering project. The Ohkouzu diversion is an artificial channel, cut to s

Festival Chubu T

例年4月上旬〜中旬が見頃

Takadajo Park Cherry Blossoms

Takadajo Park, 44-1 Honjocho, Joetsu, Niigata

This one is better known after dark. Takadajo Park holds about four thousand cherry trees, and standing among them is th

Festival Chubu M

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Matsukawa Riverside Cherry Blossoms

Matsukawa riverside, 1 Honmaru, Toyama, Toyama

This river used to be part of a much bigger one. Toyama prefecture's account is that the Matsukawa is what was left of t

Festival Chubu T

例年3月下旬〜4月中旬が見頃

Takaoka Kojo Park Cherry Blossoms

Takaoka Kojo Park, 1-1 Kojo, Takaoka, Toyama

The moats survived. Takaoka castle lost its buildings long ago, but the water moats and the earth ramparts are still the

Festival Chubu K

例年4月上旬が見頃

Kenrokuen Cherry Blossoms

Kenrokuen, 1 Kenrokumachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa

For about ten days a year this garden is free. Kenrokuen is designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and normally cha

Festival Chubu A

例年4月上旬が見頃

Asuwa River and Asuwayama Cherry Blossoms

Asuwa riverside, Keya to Akarimachi, Fukui, Fukui

The river and the hill run into each other. Along the embankment of the Asuwa there are about six hundred cherry trees o

Festival Chubu M

例年4月上旬が見頃

Maruoka Castle Cherry Blossoms

Kasumigajo Park, 1-59 Kasumicho, Maruoka, Sakai, Fukui

The castle's other name became the park's name. Maruoka castle is also called Kasumigajo, the castle of haze, and the gr

Festival Chubu O

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Oboshi Park Cherry Blossoms

Oboshi Park, 2175 Kajikazawa, Fujikawa, Minamikoma, Yamanashi

There is more to see from this park than in it. Oboshi Park holds about two thousand cherry trees, Somei-yoshino and sat

Festival Chubu G

例年4月上旬〜中旬が見頃

Garyu Park Cherry Blossoms

Garyu Park, 2-4-8 Garyu, Suzaka, Nagano

Six hundred cherry trees, and a quarter of them are round one pond. Nagano's tourism site gives about six hundred in Gar

Festival Chubu K

例年4月中旬〜下旬が見頃

Kaikoen Cherry Blossoms

Kaikoen, 1-6-16 Ote, Komoro, Nagano

You look down on these trees from a wall. Kaikoen, the park inside the ruins of Komoro castle, has Somei-yoshino and hig

Festival Chubu H

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Hyakujuro Cherry Avenue

Shinsakaigawa embankment, Naka Monzencho, Kakamigahara, Gifu

These trees are named after a person. The Hyakujuro cherries take their name from Ichikawa Hyakujuro, a kabuki actor bor

Festival Chubu N

例年4月上旬が見頃

Neodani Usuzumi-zakura

Usuzumi Park, 995 Kamidan, Neo Itasho, Motosu, Gifu

This tree changes colour as it dies back. The name Usuzumi means pale ink, and Gifu prefecture's account explains it: th

Festival Chubu K

例年3月中旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Kamagatani Cherry Blossoms

Kamagatani, Fujishiro, Ikeda, Ibi, Gifu

The name describes what it looks like from far off. Kamagatani is a valley on the slope of Mount Ikeda planted with abou

Festival Chubu Y

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Yamazakigawa Cherry Blossoms

Yamazakigawa, 3 Tanabedori, Mizuho, Nagoya, Aichi

The trees face each other across the water. Between Ishikawa bridge and Ochiai bridge, a stretch of about two and a half

Festival Chubu T

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Tsuruma Park Cherry Blossoms

Tsuruma Park, 1-1-1 Tsurumai, Showa, Nagoya, Aichi

One minute from the station gate to the trees. Tsuruma Park holds about seven hundred and fifty cherry trees, mostly Som

Festival Chubu O

例年4月上旬が見頃

Okazaki Park Cherry Blossoms

Okazaki Park, 561-1 Koseicho, Okazaki, Aichi

The cherry trees are not confined to the park. The Okazaki tourism association counts about eight hundred Somei-yoshino

Festival Chubu G

例年4月上旬が見頃

Gojogawa Cherry Blossoms

Gojo river, Nakahoncho and beyond, Iwakura, Aichi

Carp streamers are washed in this river, under the cherry trees. The Gojo river runs about seven and a half kilometres t

Festival Chubu M

例年4月上旬〜中旬が見頃

Mitake Cherry Blossoms

Mitake, Misugicho, Tsu, Mie

The approach to a temple is the avenue. Mitake's cherry trees run for a kilometre and a half along the path from the old

Festival Chubu H

例年4月上旬〜中旬が見頃

Hokoen Cherry Blossoms

Hokoen, 1325 Koencho, Nagahama, Shiga

Six hundred cherry trees stand where Hideyoshi put a castle. Hokoen occupies the site of Nagahama castle, held by Toyoto

Festival Chubu K

例年4月上旬が見頃

Kaizu-Osaki Cherry Blossoms

Kaizu-Osaki, Kaizu, Makinocho, Takashima, Shiga

Four kilometres of cherry trees along the edge of a lake, on a road that goes nowhere in particular. The planting at Kai