{Inter} Cultural Japan

July is an exciting time to be in Japan (despite the heat), as many of the famous summer festivals are held. Here is an overview so you can plan your schedule.

July 7, nationwide: Tanabata (Star Festival)

Celebrates the meeting, just once a year, of two lovers, Kengyu (the star Altair, personified as a cowherd) and Shokujo (Vega, as a weaving girl), who are on the other days separated by the Milky Way. Pieces of bamboo are set up in the garden or at the door of people’s houses and adorned with strips of paper of five different colors on which poems associated with the legend are written, and offerings of food are made. The biggest one near Tokyo is held in Hiratsuka (around the station). Here is the romantic story behind the festival as told by Lafcadio Hearn.

July 6-8, Tokyo: Morning-Glory Market in Iriya

The blue or purple morning glories (asagao) are a symbol of summer. You see them everywhere in Japan, in pots in alleys in downtown Tokyo, or in the private gardens of Kamakura or Kyoto. Held in the grounds of Shingenji Temple in Taito-ku. Every year 120,000 morning glories change owner at the fair which is held from dawn to dusk.

July 9-10, Tokyo: Hozuki-Ichi (Ground-Cherry Fair), Sensoji

Bright orange Hozuki Plants (Grounds Cherries) are on sale in the grounds of Sensoji in Asakusa, Tokyo. Read more wbout Sensoji (Tokyo Jamboree) in The Japan pages.

July 9-11: Narita Gion Matsuri, Narita

Floats, carts, and portable shrines parade through Narita. Festival highlight is the sobiki parade on the last day when floats are pulled up the steep slope to Shinshoji’s main hall.

July 14, Nachi (Wakayama Pref.): Fire festival, Kumano Nachi Shrine

Since ancient times, the Kumano Mountains have been revered as a site of great mystical power, both a dwelling place of the gods and a Buddhist paradise. A popular pilgrimage site, it is one of the holy places of Shugendo, ascetic mountain Buddhism. The Kumano cult centers on the three shrines of Hongu, Hayatama (Shingu) and Nachi and in the past was made popular by wandering priests and shrine maidens. During the annual festival of the Nachi Shrine, twelve portable shrines are purified by fire (torches) and water, in the form of the mist spraying from the spectacular Nachi waterfall.

At Kumano Nachi Taisha, 30 min by bus to Takii-mae from Kii-Katsuura on the Kisei main line.

July 15, Fukuoka: Hakata Gion Yamakasa, Kushida Shrine

Kazariyama, floats decorated with large dolls, are set up in the city from July 1. The festival climaxes with a race ((Oiyama) on the 15th, when hundreds of people wearing traditional costumes run with the seven one-ton floats through the city. Spectators standing along the streets throw water on them as they pass. (see also this article)

July 16-24, Kyoto: Gion Matsuri, Yasaka Shrine

Originates in 9th c. when the festival was first held as protection against an epidemic. On July 17, gorgeously decorated floats are pulled through the center of Kyoto. The night(s) before the 17th, the floats are lit up with lanterns in the locations where they have been built up (Yoi Matsuri). There are two types of floats: hoko are towers on wheels, with a mast sometimes reaching to a height of 30 or 40 meters, pulled by a large number of persons; yama are smaller and carried by long poles on the shoulders of a group of bearers.

July 18-20, Kyoto: Kiyomizu Danchi Pottery Fair

The famous Kiyomizu pottery kilns have been relocated from Gojozaka to a rather matter-of-fact area in Yamashina (thanks to the growth of the city), but at the fair more than 100 shops offer their wares at discounts of up to 50%. Kiyomizu Danchi, Keihan Bus 29 from JR Yamashina St.

July 22, Miyajima (Hiroshima): Itsukushima Jinja Kangen Sai

The Orchestral Festival (Kangensai) of the Itsukushima Shrine on scenic Miyajima island near Hiroshima. During this sea festival, colorful boats with musicians and dancers pass under the famous torii in the water, calling the courtly life of the Heian period to mind. From 16:00-23:00. There is also a lantern parade on the island.

July 20-23, Kyoto: Mitarashi festival, Shimogamo Shrine

Purification festival dedicated to the goddess of water enshrined at the Shimogamo Shrine, held annually in the 3^rd week of July (17:30-22:30). Take off your shoes, receive a candle and wade through the refreshingly cool water to the rack where you can place the candle on. After that, everybody receives a drink of spring water to ensure health in the hot summer.

July 24-25, Osaka: Tenjin Matsuri, Tenmangu Shrine

Greatest festival of Osaka. On the evening of the 25th, a fleet of boats carrying portable shrines proceeds upstream over the Yodo River.

End of July, Tokyo: Sumida River Fireworks Display

In Sumida Park along the Sumida River. Expect large crowds (about one million) for this most popular of summer fireworks festivals. Some 20,000 rockets are fired from two separate bases along the river, in a competition between rival firework companies. See Japanese Fireworks for more info about pyrotechnics.

uly 20-Aug. 1, Osaka: Sumiyoshi Matsuri, Sumiyoshi Shrine

Summer festival with parade of mikoshi.

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