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May 2020
[CANCELED] Tomo Bentenjima Fireworks Festival
Tomo Bentenjima Fireworks Festival in the quaint port town of Tomo-no-ura kicks off the summer's fireworks festivals in the Chugoku region. 90min of fireworks over the water silhouetting picturesque Benten Island. Photo: Hiroshima Prefecture
Find out more »June 2020
Toukasan Yukata Festival
Hiroshima really comes alive over the three nights of Tōkasan - a festival that really does feel "festive". Join the 300,000 people who will be donning their yukata for the first time this year who take over Chuo-dori and environs to promenade, play festival games like fish scooping, buy strange inflatable novelties and stuff their faces with equally strange stuff on sticks. As well as parades and summer bon dancing, there will be taiko drumming and other performances on stages…
Find out more »[CANCELED] Mibu-no-Hanadaue Traditional Rice Planting Ritual
Mibu-no-hanadaue is a revived rice planting ritual said to have roots in the middle ages that is renacted on the first Sunday of June every year. The event was designated as a UNESCO Intangible Heritage in 2003 and many people now make the trip to Chiyoda in Kita-hiroshima to view it. Bulls are led through the streets to Mibu Hachiman Shrine where they are dressed with elaborately decorated saddles and colorful necklaces. They are then led to a field, and…
Find out more »July 2020
[CANCELED] Innoshima Suigun Fireworks Festival
2500 bangs packed into 30 minutes with the waters of the Seto Inland Sea and shadows of the surrounding islands as a backdrop on the rural island of Innoshima. The whole display is packed into just half an hour, making for quite some impact. Two blasts selected by popular vote. This is quite far off the beaten track so should be a very local and fun event and international visitors are bound to turn a few heads as they wander…
Find out more »August 2020
September 2020
Lake Shinji-ko Fireworks, Matsue
This spectacular fireworks display over Shinjiko Lake in Matsue in Shimane Prefercture, silhouettes Yonegashima island against a blaze of color, is part of the annual Suigosai Festival and is usually held in August. This year, it has been rescheduled so as not clash with the Tokyo Olympics. The festival goes all day. Expect quite some congestion if driving.
Find out more »October 2020
Saijo Sake Matsuri
Become a connoisseur of Japanese sake in two days... or just get smashed.
Find out more »November 2020
Fire walking ritual at Daishoin Temple
Photo: Lance Cpl. Benjamin Pryer "Hi-watari-shiki" Fire walking ritual takea place at Daishoin Temple on Miyajima twice a year on April 15 and November 15. Readings from the 8000 verse Perfection of Wisdom Sutra begin at 11am and extravagant Saito-goma rituals begin around 1pm in the temple forecourt with a purification offering to the alter and the chanting of sutras. This is followed by two Buddhist monks circling the area with swords and then shooting 7 arrows into the air…
Find out more »Ebisuko Festival
Ebisu Shrine's autumn festival marks the arrival of winter in Hiroshima. Known among locals as Ebessan after the god of commerce, surrounding stores hold sales and buy komazarae bamboo rakes adorned with gold coins and atreasure ship. You might here business owners complain that the whole thing is a racket, but you won't see a shop, restaurant or bar in the area without one. A huge barrel with mouth wide open is placed in front of the shrine to receive offerings. Learn more…
Find out more »December 2020
New Year at Gokoku Shrine
December 31 From 17:00 Ooharae-shiki (purification ceremony) & Joya-sai (seeing out the old year festival) From just after 11pm the bell in the main shrine building opens for clanging and the ceremonial sake starts to be served to the first of the over half a million people who will visit over the next few days. 24:00 Shrine maidens dance to welcome the new year. January 1 10:00 Saitansai is a Shinto ritual to mark the beginning of New Year, followed…
Find out more »Chinkasai Fire Festival
With most people living in the wooden houses, closely clustered together along narrow streets for centuries, fear of calamitous fires is deeply ingrained in the Japanese psyche. The Chinkasai on Miyajima is an impressive fire appeasing festival held on New Year's Eve. Read more about the Chinkasai Fire Festival here.
Find out more »January 2021
New Year rituals at Itsukushima Shrine
Jan 1 Shin-i Kenjo-shiki Ceremony (offering new clothes to deities) from midnight Saitan-sai Festival Ceremony Bugaku traditional dance performance starts at 5:30am. Jan 2 Futsukasai Ceremony 09:00 Omatsubayashishinnou Bugaku traditional dance performance 13:00 Jan 3 Genshisai Ceremony 09:00 Bugaku performance 13:00 Jan 5 Chikyusai Ceremony and Bugaku performance 05:30 Includes Batoh (Sunrise Dance) only performed once a year on this day.
Find out more »Nanakusa-gayu at Tōshō-gū Shrine
800 bowls of the healthy seven-herb rice porridge traditionally eaten on January 7. Available from 11am until they are all gone (¥300 a bowl). Read more about the Nankusa-no-sekku festival here.
Find out more »Momote-sai
Ritual firing of the first arrow at Omote Shrine on Miyajima is held on January 20 every year. Click here for more info and pics.">Click here for more info and pics.
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