Japan

Events & Gatherings

October 2026 4 events

Every October, a dragon descends the stone steps of Suwa Shrine and moves through the streets of Nagasaki. It has been d

Festival Kyushu O

10/17–10/18

Obi Jokamachi Festival: The Little Kyoto of Kyushu

Obi, Nichinan City, Miyazaki

Obi is called the Little Kyoto of Kyushu, and the designation is more accurate than most such nicknames. The castle town

Festival Kyushu H

10/23–10/24

Hakata Okunchi: The Autumn Thanksgiving of Kushida Shrine

Kushida Shrine and central Hakata, Fukuoka

A festival of gratitude, in autumn. In October, at Kushida Shrine, the guardian shrine of Hakata in Fukuoka, the great

Festival Kyushu I

10/24–10/25

Imari Tontenton Festival

Portable shrine and float collide. At the Imari Tontenton Festival in October, a fighting shrine and a fighting float c

November 2026 3 events

Festival Kyushu K

11/02–11/04

Karatsu Kunchi

3-13 Minamijounai, Karatsu, Saga (Karatsu Shrine)

Each of the fourteen floats has a name and a story. A red lion. A samurai helmet. A sea bream. A dragon. Urashima Taro o

Festival Kyushu Y

11/03–11/03

Yagoro-don Festival

Iwagawa Hachiman Shrine, Osumi-cho, Soo, Kagoshima

He stands four meters eighty-five: a giant in a plum-dyed robe, two swords at his waist, gazing over the rooftops of a s

Festival Kyushu Y

11/22–11/23

Yatsushiro Myoken Festival

Yatsushiro Shrine and city center, Yatsushiro, Kumamoto

The creature is called Kida, though everyone in Yatsushiro calls it Game: a turtle and a snake fused into one bounding,

December 2026 1 events

Festival Kyushu M

12/12–12/12

Miyakonojo Shiwasu Festival: The Year's End Fire

Miyakonojo City and Kirishima Shrine, Miyazaki

In December, the gods descend from Kirishima. The mountain shrine complex holds its year-end grand festival, and Miyakon

January 2027 2 events

Festival Kyushu T

01/03–01/03

Tamaseseri Ball-Catching Festival

Hakozakigu Shrine, 1-22-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka

On the third of January, while much of Japan is still drowsing through the New Year, the men of Hakozaki in Fukuoka stri

Festival Kyushu O

01/07–01/07

Oniyo Fire Festival

Daizenji Tamataregu Shrine, Daizenji-machi, Kurume, Fukuoka

A week into the new year, on the plain of the Chikugo River near Kurume, one of Japan's three great fire festivals sets

February 2027 2 events

Festival Kyushu N

02/06–02/20

Nagasaki Lantern Festival

Shinchi Chinatown, Central Park and across Nagasaki

Why is a Japanese town this red? Nagasaki's Lantern Festival, held at the Lunar New Year, lights the city with some fift

Festival Kyushu K

02/28–02/28

Kihara Fudoson Spring Festival

Ganeisan Chojuji, 2040 Kihara, Tomiai, Minami-ku, Kumamoto City

At the end of February, people walk barefoot over fire. Tomiai, in the south of Kumamoto City. The temple's proper name

Year-round

Festival Kyushu T

毎年11月中旬〜2月上旬

Takachiho Night Kagura

Takachiho Shrine and village communities, Takachiho, Miyazaki

In the land where the myths were born, people dance through the night. Takachiho in Miyazaki is held to be the place whe

Festival Kyushu C

毎年2月下旬〜3月上旬

Chiran Hina Matsuri: Samurai Town Dolls

Chiran Town, Minami-Kyushu City, Kagoshima

The samurai district of Chiran — stone-walled garden paths, carefully maintained machiya houses, one of the best-preserv

Festival Kyushu O

例年7月下旬

Omuta Djaiyama Festival Fireworks

Suwa River, Omuta, Fukuoka

This is the summer when the great serpent breathes fire. Omuta in Fukuoka was once a coal-mining town, one of the engine

Festival Kyushu N

例年7月下旬

Nagasaki Minato Festival Sea Fireworks

Nagasaki Port, Nagasaki

Fire reflects in a foreign-touched harbor. Nagasaki was, during Japan's centuries of self-imposed isolation, the single

Festival Kyushu K

例年8月下旬

Kagoshima Kinkowan Summer Night Fireworks

Kinkowan Bay, Kagoshima City

Fireworks rise before a mountain of fire. Across Kinkowan Bay from Kagoshima stands Sakurajima—an active volcano that st

Festival Kyushu T

例年11月中旬〜下旬が見頃

Takachiho: A Gorge Deep Enough for a God

Takachiho Gorge, Mitai, Takachiho, Nishiusuki, Miyazaki

The gorge is deep, and the depth is the first thing you feel. Aso erupted twice—once about 120,000 years ago and again

Festival Kyushu H

例年1月中旬（四王子神社）

Hamayumi-sai - The Matobakai

Shioji Shrine, Nagasu, Tamana District, Kumamoto

It ends in the sea. Nagasu faces the Ariake, a sea of tides and mudflats. In the grounds of Shioji Shrine, men in loinc

Festival Kyushu Y

例年2月の毎週金・土曜（全8夜）

Yamaga Lantern Romance - Hyakka Hyakusai

Buzen-kaido, between the Yachiyoza and Sakura-yu, Yamaga, Kumamoto

The light comes down to the town. In summer, the women of Yamaga carry golden lanterns on their heads and dance. In win

Festival Kyushu A

例年3月（田作祭7日間のうち4日目・申の日）

Aso Shrine Hifuri - The Fire-Swinging Rite

Aso Shrine, Miyaji, Ichinomiya-machi, Aso, Kumamoto

A wedding, welcomed with swinging fire. The Tatsukuri rite at Aso Shrine runs seven days. The god Kunitatsu lodges each

Festival Kyushu N

例年10月下旬〜11月中旬が見頃

Nita Pass

Nita Pass, Unzen, Nagasaki

At Nita Pass the peak runs late October to mid-November. The pass sits in the middle of the Shimabara peninsula, in the

Festival Kyushu S

例年10月下旬〜11月中旬が見頃

Shin-Yabakei

Shin-Yabakei, Nakatsu, Oita

Shin-Yabakei peaks from late October to mid-November. The valley follows the Yamautsuri, a tributary of the Yamakuni riv

Festival Kyushu K

例年11月中旬〜下旬が見頃

Kikuchi Gorge

Kikuchi Gorge, Kikuchi, Kumamoto

The season at Kikuchi Gorge runs mid to late November — later than most of the island, and often the last good week in t

Festival Kyushu G

例年11月上旬〜中旬が見頃

Gokanosho

Gokanosho, Yatsushiro, Kumamoto

Colour reaches Gokanosho early to mid-November. The name covers five settlements — Momiki, Nitao, Hagi, Kurako and Shiih

Festival Kyushu K

例年11月上旬〜中旬が見頃

Kyusui-kei

Kyusui-kei, Kokonoe, Oita

The peak at Kyusui-kei, in the Tano district of Kokonoe, runs early to mid-November. The gorge is two kilometres of near

Festival Kyushu R

例年11月上旬〜中旬が見頃

Raizan Sennyoji Daihioin

Raizan Sennyoji Daihioin, 626 Raizan, Itoshima, Fukuoka

People drive out to Itoshima to see one tree. The great maple of Raizan Sennyoji Daihioin usually turns between the firs

Festival Kyushu M

例年11月中旬〜12月上旬が見頃

Mifuneyama Rakuen

Mifuneyama Rakuen, 4100 Takeocho, Takeo, Saga

Mifuneyama Rakuen has something most gardens lack: a wall. The garden spreads across the foot of a sheer rock mountain,

Festival Kyushu A

例年11月下旬〜12月上旬が見頃

Akizuki

Akizuki Castle Ruins, Akizuki Notori, Asakura, Fukuoka

There are about twenty maples at Akizuki's Kuromon gate. Twenty — few enough to count from where you stand. And yet the

Festival Kyushu K

例年11月中旬が見頃

Kirishima Onsenkyo

Maruo, Kirishima Onsenkyo, Makizonocho Takachiho, Kirishima, Kagoshima

The steam here is warm enough to hold a season back. Kirishima Onsenkyo is a collective name for nine hot springs scatte

Festival Kyushu N

例年3月下旬が見頃

Nishi Park Cherry Blossoms

Nishi Park, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka, Fukuoka

Fukuoka prefecture has exactly one entry among the hundred cherry sites, and this is it. Nishi Park stands on a rise nea

Festival Kyushu O

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Ogi Park Cherry Blossoms

Ogi Park, 185 Ogimachi, Ogi, Saga

This park was a domain garden before it was a park. Ogi city writes that it was laid out by Motoshige Nabeshima, first l

Festival Kyushu O

例年3月下旬〜4月中旬が見頃

Omura Park Cherry Blossoms

Omura Park, 1-43 Kushima, Omura, Nagasaki

The cherry trees here are named after the place. Omura Park holds about 2,000 trees, and roughly 300 of them are Omura-z

Festival Kyushu K

例年4月上旬が見頃

Kumamoto Castle Cherry Blossoms

Kumamoto Castle, 1-1 Honmaru, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto

New cherry trees are still being found inside this castle. Kumamoto city writes that a cherry was found on the grounds w

Festival Kyushu Y

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Yunoko Cherry Line Blossoms

Yunoko Cherry Line, Hama, Minamata, Kumamoto

This entry on the list of a hundred is not a park but a road. Kumamoto prefecture describes a driving route with cherry

Festival Kyushu I

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Ichifusa Dam Lake Cherry Blossoms

Ichifusa Dam Lake, Mizukami, Kuma District, Kumamoto

The cherry trees here go all the way round a lake. Kumamoto prefecture writes that about 10,000 of them were planted to

Festival Kyushu O

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Oka Castle Park Cherry Blossoms

Oka Castle ruins, Taketa, Oita

This castle site is better known for a piece of music than for its trees. Oita prefecture writes that the ruins of Oka c

Festival Kyushu M

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Mochio Park Cherry Blossoms

Mochio Park, 6633 Yokoichicho, Miyakonojo, Miyazaki

The entry on the list is not a park but a prefectural natural park, taking in Mochio and Sekinoo together. Mochio Park h

Festival Kyushu T

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Tadamoto Park Cherry Blossoms

Tadamoto Park, 2484-193 Okuchi Harada, Isa, Kagoshima

This park carries a person's name. Isa city writes that Tadamoto shrine, dedicated to the Shimazu retainer Niiro Musashi