Popular festivals

An autumn festival in which taikodai parade through the Mishima, Samukawa, and Toyooka districts of Shikokuchuo City. Highlights include a joint gathering of taikodai topped with layered cushions and nighttime parades through the city.
The highlight is the Iyo Mishima-style taikodai, topped with six to eight tiers of layered cushions in different colors. In the Mishima district, taikodai gather at Minato Kinen Park for carrying competitions and awards. On the final night, you can also see taikodai parade through the city. Offerings of Niihama-style taikodai are also becoming more common in the Toyooka district, making it possible to compare different styles.

The Jidai Matsuri features figures and costumes from the Meiji Restoration through the Enryaku period in a procession from the Kyoto Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine. The procession, about 2 kilometers long, offers a chance to experience Kyoto’s history and traditional culture.
A highlight is the procession, about 2 kilometers long, featuring around 2,000 people, 70 horses, 2 oxen, horse-drawn carriages, and ox-drawn carts. Led by the Ishin Kinnoto procession, groups representing the Edo, Azuchi-Momoyama, Yoshino, Muromachi, Kamakura, Fujiwara, and Enryaku periods follow. Costumes, ceremonial items, and furnishings, carefully researched for historical accuracy, vividly convey changes in historical customs and culture.

An autumn festival celebrated at Toshima Shrine in Oto-shima, Tamashima, Kurashiki City. Boats, Chitose-raku floats, and danjiri floats parade through the area, and on Sunday evening the shrine-entry procession climbs 170 stone steps.
The main highlight is the boats, Chitose-raku floats, danjiri floats, and other festival objects climbing the 170 stone steps at Toshima Shrine on Sunday evening. Lit by lanterns, the large festival floats move forward in a weaving motion from side to side, accompanied by singing and shouts. The shrine-entry procession from around 6 p.m. is a chance to experience up close the bearers' powerful movements and the festival's colorful paraphernalia.

A Takamatsu autumn festival that recreates the procession of an Edo-period lord of the Takamatsu Domain on the streets of Busshozan, a temple town. Enjoy local history and a variety of events, including a roughly 1.5 km daimyo procession featuring residents selected through an open call, thrilling sword-fighting performances, an outdoor theater, and autumn fireworks.
The main highlight is the daimyo procession, in which residents selected through an open call dress as figures such as kōsatsu-yakko, sakibarai samurai, and road commissioners and make their way along the roughly 1.5 km Onari Kaido. Along the route, villains who target Lord Yorishige appear, and sword-fighting performances are presented in front of Aoi-do and the Busshozan Community Center, among other locations. The Takamatsu City Hall Wind Orchestra, Ryukyu Kuni Matsuri Daiko, and a children’s samurai armor troop also add to the procession. Enjoy performances, traditional local arts, and dance at the outdoor theater, as well as autumn fireworks lighting up the night sky on the first day.

This joint festival brings dashi, ofune, and mikoshi into Tateyama’s castle town, centered around Tateyama Shrine. Enjoy the different decorations and festival music of each district as you watch the parades through town and the processions into the shrine.
A highlight is seeing the dashi, ofune, and mikoshi, each with its district’s distinctive decorations and festival music, gather at Tateyama Shrine. At night, each district’s floats and performances move through the castle town along the pedestrianized streets, changing the feel of the area. During the year-duty handover, responsibility for the festival is passed to the next district on duty.

An autumn festival celebrated at Toshima Shrine in Oto-shima, Tamashima, Kurashiki City. Boats, Chitose-raku floats, and danjiri floats parade through the area, and on Sunday evening the shrine-entry procession climbs 170 stone steps.
The main highlight is the boats, Chitose-raku floats, danjiri floats, and other festival objects climbing the 170 stone steps at Toshima Shrine on Sunday evening. Lit by lanterns, the large festival floats move forward in a weaving motion from side to side, accompanied by singing and shouts. The shrine-entry procession from around 6 p.m. is a chance to experience up close the bearers' powerful movements and the festival's colorful paraphernalia.

Zenniku-sai is a food event originating in Wakayama that goes beyond livestock meat to include game, fish, and fruit in its idea of what counts as meat.
The main highlight is the chance to enjoy a wide variety of dishes in one venue, not limited to livestock meat. Food stalls and food trucks from across Japan gather here, giving visitors a wide range of food choices. At the 2026 Wakayama venue, live performances, fire and light performances, yosakoi, and an arm-wrestling tournament are also planned for the special stage.

Gatchi Festival, held in Nonami, Shimane-cho, Matsue, is the Gion-sha Shinko-sai, where Gatchi wearing demon masks swing straw sticks and purify the district while making loud cries. It is a distinctive local shinji that welcomes the gods' return to their home.
The main highlight is seeing Gatchi dressed in white and wearing demon masks proceed through the district while making loud cries. They strike the ground with straw sticks and swing them at not only the roads but also houses and people, purifying the area. Children are chased and run away, creating a powerful spectacle reminiscent of Namahage in Akita. There is also a local belief that being bitten on the head by a Gatchi wearing a lion-dance mask brings good health and protection from illness.

The World Yabusame Championship is a competition that brings riders from Japan and abroad to Towada City to compete in the skill of shooting targets with arrows from galloping horses. Enjoy individual and team events, the World Challenge, and horseback riding and archery experiences.
The main highlight is the riders’ skill in hitting targets with arrows from horseback at a gallop. Alongside multiple divisions in the individual competition, there are team events and the World Challenge, letting you compare each rider’s skill and coordination with their horse. Watch the horse-and-rider pairs in action, from practice runs to the main competition. Horseback riding and archery experiences are also available at the venue.