Japan Travel Tips

Japan Festivals and Holidays

Japan Festivals and Holidays
Festivals


For centuries festivals in Japan have been more a way of life than a mere reason for celebration. While many of the popular festivals in Japan are based on long standing legends others celebrate the coming and passing of the seasons. Festivals in Japan are a time to relax with family members, a time to eat and drink and a time to celebrate Japan's rich spiritual culture.

They range from the bizarre - at Kanamara Matsuri the locals parade a large pink penis up and down the main street - to the spectacular - during the Cherry Blossom festival parks across Japan become awash in a sea of pink blossoms.

While during Obon locals return to their family homes to pray, eat, sing and dance with the spirits of their dead ancestors. Following Obon , Eisa marks the end of summer. Eisa is a time when the Japanese bid farewell to the spirits of ancestors who have come back to earth for Obon .

For the romantics amongst us, the Tanabata festival (or festival of the star-crossed lovers ) is well worth a look and an important day in the life of every Japanese youth falls on January 15 - Coming of Age Day or Seijin No Hi .

Festival Name: Cherry Blossom Festival
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Floral, Local, Traditional
Visitors come from all over the island, from mainland Japan, and even from other countries to see the earliest sign of the approaching spring.
 
 
Festival Name: Coming of Age Day - Seijin No Hi
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
Seijin No Hi was declared a national holiday in Japan in 1948 and in Okinawa in 1961. It is a day of tradition, but also of fun. In addition, it is a day of advice and wise words and a day to begin exercising the rights of adulthood.
 
 
Festival Name: Doll Festival
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
Hina Matsuri translates into “doll festival” but this fun holiday is more commonly known as Girls Day and is celebrated every March 3rd.
 
 
Festival Name: Dragon Boat Races
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Sport - Water, Sport - Bizarre
Throughout the spring and early summer an annual tradition is carried out in many of the fishing ports around Okinawa. This colorful event is called the Haari or Dragon Boat Races.
 
 
Festival Name: Eisa Festival
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
The Eisa festival, held at the conclusion of Obon in late August, marks the end of summer and is the last big festival of the year. It is a time of great celebration and the time to bid farewell to the spirits of ancestors who have come back to earth for Obon.
 
 
Festival Name: Full Moon Party
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Cultural
A popular legend tells a very sad tale. It seems Gosamaru was the lord of the Village of Yamada in Yomitan. He built Zakimi Castle, took part in foreign trade and became very rich and powerful.
 
 
Festival Name: Golden Week - Green Day, Constitution Day, The People's Holiday, Children's Day
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
Golden Week is one of the happiest times in Okinawa. With four holidays occurring within the week, many businesses are closed and schools are out. Those businesses that have to remain open can count on increased revenues as people celebrate the different holidays.
 
 
Festival Name: Hamauri - Beach Visiting Day
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Cultural
In early April you may be surprised to see more people than usual at the beaches. April 2nd (or March 3rd on the lunar calendar) is the day Hamauri or Beach Visiting is celebrated. This tradition all began with a very strange legend.
 
 
Festival Name: Hounen Matsuri
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Bizarre, Cultural, Adult
Not to be outdone, every March 15th, the small town of Komaki, Japan celebrates Hounen Matsuri. Matsuri means festival and Hounen, I'm fairly sure, means Big Wooden Penis. Okay, actually it means something much less interesting, but it SHOULD mean Big Wooden Penis, because there is, in fact, a Big Wooden Penis featured prominently throughout the festival.
 
 
Festival Name: Kanamara Matsuri Festival - Festival of the Steel Phallus
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Bizarre, Traditional, Adult
A large, pink phallus turns the corner and heads down the street. Sitting atop the shoulders of 10-12 men in bandanas, it bobs up and down to their rhythmic chants. Locals carve white radishes into images of the male reproductive system, preparing to auction them off at an afternoon banquet. Transvestites line the street; their red lipstick and hairy legs are no less a contrast than the grandmother who's licking on a lollypop that's in the shape of a....well, you can probably guess by now.
 
 
Festival Name: Obon
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
The Japanese have long respected their elders who are held in high esteem for their wisdom. They bestow many honors upon them both before and after death. Okinawans return to their family homes for obon, some of them traveling thousands of miles.
 
 
Festival Name: Tanabata Festival
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
If you love romance this is the festival for you! On the seventh night of the seventh moon, or July 7th, Tanabata is celebrated. Tanabata is also known as the Star Festival or the Festival of the Star-Crossed Lovers. First celebrated in 755, this festival as well as many others began with a popular legend.
 
National Holidays

Date
Name of the Day
January 1st
New Year's Holiday
The 2nd Monday of January
Coming Age of Day
February 11th
National Foundation Day
March 21st
Vernal Equinox Day
April 29th
Greenery Day
May 3rd
Constitution Memorial Day
May 4th
National Holiday
May 5th
Children's Day
July 20th
Marine Day
The 3rd Monday of Sepptember
Respect for the Aged Day
September 23rd
Autumnal Equinox Day
The 2nd Monday of October
Health and Sports Day
November 3rd
National Cultual Day
November 23rd
Labor Thanksgiving Day
December 23rd
The Emperor's Birthday