September 2026
1 events
October 2026
3 events
Festival
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10/03–10/03
Higashimatsushima Autumn Festival
Around Yamoto Station and the shopping association, Higashimatsushima, Miyagi
Higashimatsushima calls itself the blue town. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force base here is home to the Blue Impulse aer
Festival
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10/03–10/03
Omagari Fireworks: Autumn Chapter
Omono River, Daisen, Akita
The autumn fireworks at Omagari are not a competition.
In August, this same riverbed hosts the contest that decides who
Festival
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10/04–10/06
Nihonmatsu Chochin Matsuri: The Lantern Festival of Fukushima
Nihonmatsu Shrine and city center, Nihonmatsu, Fukushima
Fire is passed from a shrine's flame to the lanterns, and the festival begins.
On an October night in Nihonmatsu, in th
January 2027
3 events
Festival
Tohoku
D
01/02–01/02
Dainichido Bugaku
Ohirumemuchi Shrine, Donoue-16 Hachimantai, Kazuno, Akita
On the second morning of the year, while it is still dark and the snow lies deep across the Hachimantai basin, four haml
Festival
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01/14–01/14
Bange Hatsuichi: The Great Bale Tug-of-War
Main Street by the Town Hall, Aizubange, Kawanuma District, Fukushima
People in Aizubange call January 14th their New Year's Day. The calendar disagrees, but the town has held to this since
Gathering
Tohoku
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01/20–01/20
Hatsukayasai at Motsuji: Dancing Held Over from the Heian Court
Hiraizumi in January is snow, and darkness, and a great deal of history compressed into a very small area.
Eight hundre
February 2027
4 events
Festival
Tohoku
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02/01–02/02
Kurokawa Noh — Ogi Festival
Kasuga Shrine, Kurokawa, Tsuruoka, Yamagata
On the night of February 1st, in the farming village of Kurokawa in Yamagata Prefecture, the noh begins.
It has been go
Festival
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02/08–02/09
Ouchijuku Snow Festival
Snow settles on the thatch.
Ouchijuku was a post town once, a way station on the road that linked Aizu to Nikko, where
Festival
Tohoku
Y
02/15–02/16
Yokote Kamakura Festival: Rooms Made of Winter
City hall area, Haguro-cho, and sites across Yokote, Akita
In Yokote, deep in the snow country of Akita, February brings rooms made of winter. Kamakura are snow huts, some three m
Festival
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02/17–02/20
Hachinohe Enburi: Going Out into the Snow to Call In Spring
Central Hachinohe and Chojasan Shinra Shrine, Aomori
In Hachinohe, on the snowbound Pacific coast of Aomori, spring does not arrive on its own. It has to be summoned. From F
Year-round
Festival
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毎年9月第3土・日曜
Tono Festival
Tono City, Iwate
Tono is a town in the mountains of Iwate Prefecture that seems to remember things other places have forgotten. It was he
Festival
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毎年2月第2金・土・日曜
Namahage Sedo Festival
Shinzan Shrine, Kitaura Shinzan, Oga, Akita
The Oga Peninsula in winter is a different country. Cold comes in off the Japan Sea, the cedar forests around Shinzan Sh
Festival
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例年5月最終土・日・月曜
Soma Nomaoi — The Wild Horse Chase
Hibaragahara Festival Grounds & Soma Nakamura Shrine, Minamisoma / Soma, Fukushima
The origin story is a thousand years old: Taira no Masakado, the warlord, released wild horses on the plains of what is
Gathering
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Daily
Towada Oirase Art Festival
Lake Towada, Oirase Gorge and the city center, Towada, Aomori
The sound of the mountain stream becomes part of the work. In Towada, Aomori, lies Lake Towada and the Oirase Gorge that
Gathering
Tohoku
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Daily
Yamagata Biennale
Tohoku University of Art and Design and venues across Yamagata City
A university opens up a town. In Yamagata City, an art festival is held once every two years, organized by the Tohoku Un
Residency
Tohoku
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Daily
Kesennuma Fisherman Experience
Kesennuma, Miyagi
Betrayed by the sea, and still living with the sea. Kesennuma in Miyagi is a port town of Tohoku with one of the world's
Workshop
Tohoku
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Daily
Nanbu Ironware Foundry Tour
Mizusawa, Oshu, Iwate
Black, heavy, made to last a lifetime. Oshu in Iwate is the home of Nanbu ironware, known above all for iron kettles. Na
Gathering
Tohoku
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Daily
Reborn-Art Festival
Oshika Peninsula and central Ishinomaki, Miyagi
On the scars of the tsunami, art rises. Ishinomaki in Miyagi, and the Oshika Peninsula, were struck hard by the Great Ea
Festival
Tohoku
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毎年2月中旬の金・土
Aizu Painted Candle Festival
Tsurugajo Castle and Oyakuen Garden, Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima
They are painted with flowers — peonies, chrysanthemums, the blossoms of seasons not yet arrived. Each February these Ai
Festival
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毎年8月6・7日
Noshiro Tanabata: Towers of Light in Akita
Noshiro City, Akita
Twenty-four meters. That is the height of the largest lantern tower that moves through the streets of Noshiro on the nig
Market
Tohoku
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毎週土曜 15:00〜20:00（5月〜11月）
Morioka Zaimokucho Evening Market: The City's Living Room
Zaimokucho, Morioka City, Iwate
On Saturday afternoons from May through November, the Zaimokucho district of Morioka becomes something between a market
Market
Tohoku
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毎週土曜（早朝〜午前中）
Sendai Wholesale Market: Open to Everyone on Saturdays
Oroshimachi, Wakabayashi-ku, Sendai, Miyagi
The Sendai wholesale market operates six days a week supplying the city's restaurants and hotels. On Saturday mornings,
Market
Tohoku
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週末・祝日（4月〜11月）
Nasu Kogen Farmers Market: The New Countryside
Nasu Town, Nasu-gun, Tochigi
The farmers at the Nasu Kogen market did not all grow up farming. A significant portion moved here from Tokyo — people w
Gathering
Tohoku
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通年（フェリーで約50分）
Tashirojima: The Island That Belongs to Cats
Tashirojima, Ishinomaki City, Miyagi
The human population of Tashirojima is roughly sixty, most of them elderly. The cat population is comparable. The cats a
Residency
Tohoku
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通年
Gojome: Half Farming, Half Whatever You Want to Be
Gojome Town, Minamiakita-gun, Akita
The concept of han-nou han-X — half farming, half whatever else you want to do — was developed as a philosophy of rural
Residency
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通年
Tono: Sleeping Inside Japan's Most Famous Folktale Landscape
Tono City, Iwate
Tono is the setting of Yanagita Kunio's 'Legends of Tono,' published in 1910 — a collection of folktales gathered from l
Residency
Tohoku
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通年
Tsuruoka: Japan's UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy
Tsuruoka City, Yamagata
Tsuruoka has more than two hundred varieties of heirloom vegetables — crops that have been cultivated in this region for
Festival
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毎年4月上旬〜中旬（桜の開花に合わせる）
Okawara Hitome Senbon Zakura: A Thousand Cherry Trees in One Glance
Shiroishi River embankment, Ogawara Town, Shibata-gun, Miyagi
The name means 'a thousand trees visible in a single glance,' and along the eight kilometers of the Shiroishi River emba
Festival
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毎年4月下旬（さくらまつり期間中）
Tendo Human Shogi: Living Pieces on a Giant Board
Maizuruyama Park, Tendo City, Yamagata
Tendo produces more shogi pieces than anywhere else in Japan, and the Human Shogi festival is the city's annual celebrat
Festival
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毎年12月上旬〜31日
Sendai Pageant of Starlight: Six Hundred Thousand Lights in Zelkova Trees
Jozenji-dori Avenue, Aoba-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi
The zelkova trees that line Jozenji-dori, Sendai's most elegant boulevard, are bare in December. From early in the month
Market
Tohoku
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4月〜11月（定期開催）
Hirosaki Dote no Ichi: The Market That Outlasted the Feudal Doma
Dotecho shopping district, Hirosaki City, Aomori
Hirosaki is the center of Japan's apple-growing region, and the market at Dotecho brings this fact into the city with a
Market
Tohoku
A
毎週日曜（通年）
Aizu Nanukamaichi Morning Market: Two Hundred Years on the Same Street
Nanukamaichi, Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima
The Nanukamaichi morning market has been running every Sunday for more than two hundred years, which means it has contin
Festival
Tohoku
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例年8月初旬（花笠まつり前後）
Yamagata Hanagasa Festival Fireworks
Mamigasaki River, Yamagata City
This is the summer of the flower hats. The Hanagasa Festival fills the streets of Yamagata with dancers holding straw ha
Festival
Tohoku
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例年8月
Okitama Fireworks Festival
Mogami River, Yonezawa, Yamagata
Fireworks rise over the town of the Uesugi. Yonezawa was the castle seat of Uesugi Yozan, one of the most admired lords
craft
Tohoku
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通年（要予約・工房により異なる）
Kakunodate Cherry Bark Craft Experience
Bukeyashiki-dori, Kakunodate, Semboku, Akita
Cherry bark becomes treasure here. Kakunodate, a town of preserved samurai residences sometimes called "the little Kyoto
Gathering
Tohoku
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例大祭・定期公演で奉納
Hayachine Kagura
A dance offered to the mountain god.
Hayachine Kagura comes from the foot of Mount Hayachine in Iwate, bound up with th
Festival
Tohoku
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例年10月下旬〜11月上旬が見頃
Naruko Gorge in Autumn: A Canyon of Color and Hot Water
Naruko Gorge, Naruko Onsen, Osaki, Miyagi
Narukokyo is a gorge a hundred meters deep, cut by the Oya River through the mountains of northern Miyagi, and for two w
Gathering
Tohoku
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毎年12月下旬〜2月下旬
Zao Snow Monster Illumination
On the slopes of Mount Zao, in the deep Tohoku winter, the trees turn into monsters. It happens when supercooled water d
Gathering
Tohoku
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1月中旬〜2月中旬の土日
Tsugaru Ground Blizzard Experience
Meet at Kanagi Station, Tsugaru Railway, Kanagi, Goshogawara, Aomori
Jifubuki is not snow falling. It is snow that has already fallen, lifted off the ground by wind until the air turns whit
Festival
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例年10月中旬〜11月上旬が見頃
Geibikei Gorge: The Song Comes on the Way Back
467 Machiura, Nagasaka, Higashiyama-cho, Ichinoseki, Iwate
The song comes only on the way back.
Geibikei is two kilometers of limestone in southern Iwate, cut by a small river ca
Festival
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例年10月下旬〜11月上旬が見頃
Genbikei Gorge: The Dumplings Arrive by Rope
211 Takinoue, Genbi-cho, Ichinoseki, Iwate
The dumplings arrive by rope.
Genbikei is a gorge on the Iwai River in southern Iwate, where the water has drilled roun
Festival
Tohoku
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例年10月下旬〜11月上旬が見頃
Oirase Gorge
Okuse, Towada, Aomori
At night, the river is turned down.
Oirase is the only stream that leaves Lake Towada, and where it leaves there is a s
Festival
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例年9月下旬〜10月下旬が見頃
Zao Echo Line
Takimidai, Togattaonsen, Zao, Katta, Miyagi
This one has an end date.
The Zao Echo Line runs twenty-six kilometers over the Zao mountains, joining Miyagi to Yamaga
Festival
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例年10月上旬〜下旬が見頃
Mount Adatara
Shiozawa, Nihonmatsu, Fukushima
There is a sign at the top telling you to look up.
The gondola takes six minutes to the eighth station of Mount Adatara
Festival
Tohoku
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例年9月下旬〜10月中旬が見頃
Hakkoda
Arakawa, Aomori, Aomori
Hakkoda is not one mountain. It is a range of more than a dozen peaks in the middle of Aomori Prefecture, and the ropewa
Festival
Tohoku
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例年9月下旬〜10月中旬が見頃
Bandai-Azuma Skyline
Tsuchiyu Onsen, Fukushima, Fukushima
This is a road you look at rather than a mountain you climb. The Bandai-Azuma Skyline runs about 29 kilometres from Taka
Festival
Tohoku
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例年9月下旬〜10月上旬が見頃
Hachimantai
Mikaeri Pass, Matsuo Yoriki, Hachimantai, Iwate
Most mountains give you autumn on the way up. Hachimantai gives it to you on the way down. This is a broad volcanic plat
Festival
Tohoku
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例年10月中旬〜11月上旬が見頃
Akiu Otaki
Akiu Otaki, Taihaku-ku, Sendai, Miyagi
The peak here runs mid-October to early November, about a month ahead of the maples in central Sendai. The falls are twe
Festival
Tohoku
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例年10月中旬〜11月上旬が見頃
Dakigaeri-keikoku
Dakigaeri Gorge, Semboku, Akita
Autumn reaches Dakigaeri between mid-October and early November. Dakigaeri is a narrow gorge on the middle Tamagawa, ten
Festival
Tohoku
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例年10月下旬〜11月上旬が見頃
Yamadera
Hoju-san Risshaku-ji, Yamagata, Yamagata
The stone steps of Yamadera climb through their best colour from late October to early November. Yamadera is the common
Festival
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例年10月下旬〜11月上旬が見頃
To-no-Hetsuri
To-no-Hetsuri, Shimogo, Fukushima
The colour here peaks from late October to early November. To-no-Hetsuri is a river cliff on the Okawa, and hetsuri is a
Festival
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例年10月下旬〜11月上旬が見頃
Mogami-kyo
Mogami-kyo, Tozawa, Yamagata
The peak on the Mogami runs late October to early November. Mogami-kyo is the middle stretch of the Mogami river, sixtee
Festival
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例年10月下旬〜11月中旬が見頃
Shiobara Valley
Shiobara Valley, Nasushiobara, Tochigi
Shiobara runs on a calendar of ten places, and the valley around Chigo-ga-fuchi sits at late October to mid-November. Th
Festival
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例年10月上旬が見頃
Zao Chuo Kogen
Dokkonuma, Zao Chuo Kogen, Zao Onsen, Yamagata
The colour comes down this mountain in three steps, and each one has its own week. The summit ridge near Jizodake turns
Festival
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例年4月中旬〜下旬が見頃
Tsuruoka Park Cherry Blossoms
Tsuruoka Park, Babacho, Tsuruoka, Yamagata
There is no castle here any more. Tsurugaoka Castle was held by the Sakai family as lords of the Shonai domain for somet
Festival
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例年4月中旬〜下旬が見頃
Eboshiyama Park Cherry Blossoms
Eboshiyama Park, 1415 Akayu, Nanyo, Yamagata
You climb to get to these trees. Eboshiyama Park sits on the hill directly above Akayu, a hot spring town in southern Ya
Festival
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例年4月中旬〜下旬が見頃
Tsurugajo Castle Cherry Blossoms
Tsurugajo Park, 1-1 Otemachi, Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima
The roof of the keep is red. Tsurugajo is the only castle in the country with a keep tiled in red. Under that roof, abou
Festival
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例年4月上旬〜中旬が見頃
Kasumigajo Park Cherry Blossoms
Kasumigajo Park, 3-chome Kakunai, Nihonmatsu, Fukushima
The castle has a second name, Kasumigajo, which means the castle of haze. Nihonmatsu Castle was rebuilt as a modern fort
Festival
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例年4月上旬〜中旬が見頃
Miharu Takizakura Weeping Cherry
296 Sakurakubo, Taki, Miharu, Tamura, Fukushima
It is one tree. Takizakura stands by itself in a hollow of farmland outside Miharu, a weeping cherry of the Edo-higan li
Festival
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例年4月下旬〜5月上旬が見頃
Takamatsu Park Cherry Blossoms
Takamatsu Park, 1-26-1 Takamatsu, Morioka, Iwate
The pond is named after pine trees. Takamatsu-no-ike was a hawking ground of the Nanbu lords, and the city's account say
Festival
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例年4月下旬が見頃
Senshu Park Cherry Blossoms
Senshu Park, 1 Senshu Koen, Akita, Akita
The cherry trees here run a few days behind the rest of the city, and the city says so itself. Senshu Park occupies the
Festival
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例年4月下旬が見頃
Mato Park Cherry Blossoms
Mato Park, Mato, Masuda, Yokote, Akita
The hill came first. Mato Park sits in Masuda, in the south of Yokote, with Mount Mato standing behind it, and the dark
Festival
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例年4月下旬〜5月上旬が見頃
Ashino Park Cherry Blossoms
Ashino Park, Ashino, Kanagi, Goshogawara, Aomori
There is a railway station inside the park. Ashino Park covers about eighty hectares around a lake in the north of Aomor
Festival
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例年4月中旬〜下旬が見頃
Tenshochi Cherry Blossoms
Tenshochi Park, 10-chiwari Tachibana, Kitakami, Iwate
The cherry trees at Tenshochi run for two kilometres along the bank of the Kitakami River, starting at the foot of the S
Gathering
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毎年8月16日
Naruse Lantern Floating and Memorial Fireworks
Naruse River left bank, upstream of Naruse Ohashi Bridge, Higashimatsushima, Miyagi
On the evening of August 16th, the last day of Obon, people gather on the riverbank of the Naruse, just upstream of the