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

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

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

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

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

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

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