JTB New Zealand

January
17th of Jan	Akita
©Akita Prefecture & ©JNTO Bonden-sai (Bonden Festival) in Akita A bonden is a sacred wand measuring almost four meters in length, which serves as a marker for the gods descending to this world. The bonden wands are carried by groups of children, townspeople, or even company employees. Each group entrusts the bonden with their prayers for an abundant harvest, good health for their families and success in business. Men race to the shrine to become the first to make offerings of bonden. They even start hustling, jostling and grappling with one another rather violently, which explains why it is also called "Bonden fighting." The excitement reaches its peak around noon.

February
For 7 days, starting in the second week of February	Hokkaido
©City of Sapporo Sapporo Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival) in Hokkaido This is one of the largest winter events with about two million visitors from Japan and abroad. You will see hundreds of beautiful snow statues, which turn Sapporo into a winter wonderland. Rows of small and large snow statues are on display at three sites in Sapporo City. Odori Park which serves as the main venue is located in the city center, and a space extending 1.5km transforms into a snow museum. International Square (Nishi 11 chome, Odori) becomes the stage for the International Snow Statue Contest and every year more than 10 teams compete from all over the world. The lit-up snow statues are so beautiful. Moreover, the ice sculptures displayed at the Susukino Site, which is also a famous nightspot district, create a truly fantastic world. Here, you will discover unique works with Hokkaido delicacies such as crab, cuttlefish and salmon frozen inside the ice, which are fun to look at. Hokkaido Page

March
3rd of Mar.	-
Hina-Matsuri (Doll Festival) This is a festive event held on March 3rd when Hina Ningyo dolls are decorated in homes where there are daughters. It is also called Momo-no-Sekku (Peach Festival). Displayed on the tiered doll-stand are gorgeous Hina Ningyo dolls together with miniature articles and furniture. And offerings of diamond-shaped rice cakes, sweet and peach blossoms are made to accompany prayers for the healthy growth and happy future of the daughters.

April
14th - 15th of Apr.	Gifu
©JNTO Takayama Festival in Gifu The Takayama Festival is considered one of the most beautiful festivals of Japan. A large parade of 1,000 people is staged, making you feel as if you have slipped back to the 15th Century, especially because of the costumes and music performances. Most popular is the Tokeiraku parade of people wearing hats adorned with bird feathers who sound bells and beat drums, and the shishimai lion dance which is performed by dancers wearing head gear designed like a lion's head. These are followed by the parade of over 10 gorgeous floats called yatai. These yatai floats have all kinds of contrivances, such as marionettes which move so dexterously, taking the spectators by surprise. Once evening falls, 100 paper lanterns adorn these floats, producing an even more beautiful sight.

May
Third Sunday and preceding Friday and Saturday of May	Tokyo
©JNTO Asakusa Sanja Matsuri in Tokyo The Sanja Matsuri, a symbolic festival of Tokyo, is one of the largest festivals of mikoshi (portable shrines) held in Asakusa. Every year, hundreds of thousands of spectators visit Asakusa during the three festival days. With amazing vigor, men carry several dozens of portable shrines on their shoulders. On the Saturday around noon, small and large portable shrines gather at Asakusa Shrine, and then set off to parade through the town streets. On the Sunday, three especially large-sized portable shrines join the parade. These huge portable shrines depart from Asakusa Shrine early in the morning at 6 o'clock, and return around 8 o'clock at night. Other than the portable shrines, the parade which starts at 1 o'clock in the afternoon on the Friday is really worth seeing. Floats which carry musicians playing flutes and beating drums, people dressed as traditional artisans and dancers performing traditional dance all parade down Yanagi-dori to Asakusa Shrine. Tokyo Tour List
15th of May	Kyoto
©Kyoto Convention Bureau & © JNTO Aoi Matsuri in Kyoto Some 500 people wearing splendid ancient costumes and traditional make-up parade through the main streets of Kyoto. This festival came to be called Aoi Matsuri because aoi (hollyhock) leaves are used as ornaments not only on the people's costumes, but even on cows and horses. This festival reproduces the procession of officials delivering the Emperor's message and offerings to the two shrines of Shimogamo and Kamigamo. The highlight of the procession is the parade of women accompanying the proxy of the imperial princess serving the deities. The role of this heroine is selected from among all unmarried women living in Kyoto. She must dress in the formal style of the imperial court, in other words, 12 layers of kimono, weighing 30 kg in total. Kyoto Tour List

June
9th - 16th of Jun.	Tokyo
©JNTO Sanno Matsuri in Tokyo The Sanno Matsuri is famous as a festival permitted by the Shogun to enter the grounds of Edo Castle during the Edo Period (1603-1867), along with the Kanda Matsuri. It was also one of the three largest festivals of Japan. The main procession called jinkosai takes place in the middle of June in every other year according to the Western calendar.About 300 people dressed in ancient costumes parade through the heart of Tokyo including Tokyo Station, Ginza, and in front of the Diet Building. Consisting of mikoshi (portable shrines) adorned with a phoenix on the roof, dashi floats, people carrying drums, people on horseback, the procession extends over a length of 600 meters. You will also see people dressed as the legendary goblin called Tengu, characterized by a red face and a long nose, and believed to possess supernatural powers. Tokyo Tour List

July
1st - 29th of Jul.	Kyoto
©JNTO Gion Matsuri in Kyoto The Gion Matsuri, familiarly known as 'Gion-san' is a festival held at Yasaka-jinja Shrine, and the highlight is the splendid pageant of some 30 floats called Yamaboko proceeding along the main streets of Kyoto on the 17th. Each float, two-storied and about 6 meters tall, is topped with a long pole shaped like a spear. Adorned with exquisite craftwork such as woven fabric, dyed textiles and sculptures, these floats are so gorgeous that they are sometimes even described as 'mobile art museums. Kyoto Tour List
Last Saturday of July	tokyo
©Taito City Office,Tokyo & ©JNTO Sumidagawa Hanabi Taikai (Sumida River Fireworks Display) in Tokyo One of the major fireworks displays of Tokyo. On the last Saturday of July, the evening sky of the old town turns into a spectacle of dazzling colors from several tens of thousands of fireworks. This annual event is said to have originated in the custom of the common people of Edo viewing fireworks while enjoying the cool of the summer evening. Good spots for viewing the fireworks display are along the Sumida River which flows through the eastern part of Tokyo and empties into Tokyo Bay. In particular, the neighborhood around Asakusa Station throngs with crowds of spectators. Tokyo Tour List

August
2nd - 7th of Aug.	Aomori
©JNTO Nebuta Matsuri in Aomori This event is held in the Tohoku District on July 7th according to the lunar calendar. Bamboo and wooden frames are covered with paper illustrated with historic figures and pictures of samurai warriors along with birds and beasts. These are illuminated from inside and set up on yatai floats and cars which proceed in the Aomori Nebuta (Neputa in Hirosaki) parade. Today, the festivals organized in Aomori and Hirosaki are especially well known, attracting tourists from all areas of Japan. They are ranked among the four largest festivals of Tohoku, together with the Akita Kanto Matsuri lantern festival (Akita City), the Sendai Tanabata Matsuri star festival (Sendai City) and the Yamagata Hanagasa Matsuri flower hat festival (Yamagata City).
12th - 15th of Aug.	Tokushima
©JNTO Awa-Odori Folk Dance Festival in Tokushima This Tokushima festival features folkdances performed to welcome the souls of ancestors in the Bon season, from July to August. It is well known throughout Japan for these words, which are voiced to set the rhythm, regardless of their meaning: 'It's a fool who dances and a fool who watches! If both are fools, you might as well have fun dancing! The dance dates back to 1587 when the feudal lord Hachisuka Iemasa (1558-1638), in celebration of newly-built Tokushima Castle, offered sake to the people of the castle town; the citizens became so drunk they started to dance in an unsteady gait. Awa is the former name of Tokushima. The Awa-Odori is characterized by irregular steps and by the jovial and energetic up-tempo rhythm.

September
14th - 15th of Sep.	Osaka
©JNTO Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri in Osaka Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri which has a history of 300 years originated from a ceremony of wishing for a good harvest. Danjiri is a traditional type of wooden float, decorated with various ornaments, constructed without nails. It is normally 12.54 ft in height, 13.2 ft in length, 8.25 ft in width and weighs 4 tons. At the festival around 30 Danjiris are drawn around the town. The highlight of the festival is the "Yarimawashi," in which the float is manhandled into right angle turns at street corners. Sometimes the danjiri are drawn with excessive zeal and going too fast for the corner, they topple over or crash into a telephone pole or building. This is why Danjiri Festival is often referred to as the fighting festival. With all the pride of neighborhood, groups of participants run through the city with Danjiri---when they are too rough and crash hard, there are several injuries and deaths. Osaka Tour List

October
7th - 9th of Oct.	Nagasaki
©JNTO & ©Y.Shimizu Kunchi Festival in Nagasaki This is an autumn festival held at Suwa Shrine which has a history of 370 years. The greatest highlight is the Hono-Odori in which the towns in charge, called Odori-cho, take turns every year to perform dances. Each Odori-cho takes charge once every 7 years. The Hono-Odori is also performed in the square in front of the City Public Hall, at the sacred resting-place for gods during the festival parade and at the Yasaka Shrine. Moreover, the attractions prepared by the Odori-cho include dazzling floats shaped like river barges or Chinese boats on wheels. When the decorations, some over 100 kg and serving as placards of the town, arrive at the head of the parade, the spectators lining the streets call out "Come quickly, we're waiting!," or "Turn around in a big circle!" Kyushu Page

November
3rd of Nov.	Kanagawa
©JNTO Hakone Daimyo Gyoretsu (Feudal Lord's Procession) in Kanagawa An annual tourist event held on Culture Day (a national holiday), November 3rd, at Yumoto Onsen, Hakone. A procession of a total of 170 people dressed up as samurai warriors and princesses parades over a distance of some 6 km in the hot spring town. The festival is made all the more merry by the performances of the marching bands accompanying the daimyo procession at the front and at the very end, and the dance performances by the geigi unique to hot spring resorts (geigi are women who entertain guests at sake parties with song and dance). Another of the delights of the Daimyo Gyoretsu in Hakone is that you can enjoy bathing in an onsen (hot spring) to relieve your fatigue once the festival is over.

December
2nd - 3rd of Dec	Saitama
©JNTO Chichibu Yomatsuri (Night Festival) in Saitama Chichibu Yomatsuri is a festival of Chichibu Shrine which has a history of more than 2,000 years. It is one of Japan's three greatest hikiyama (float) festivals, together with the Gion Matsuri of Kyoto and the Takayama Matsuri of Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture. The main attraction of this festival takes place on the 3rd. Two kasaboko which are large parasol-like objects decorated on top with weapons such as spears, and artificial flowers together with four yatai floats shaped like small houses are paraded through the city streets. In the afternoon, the floats are transformed into stages by pulling out wings on either side, where Kabuki plays are performed. The most exciting scene of the festival unfolds on the evening of the 3rd when kasaboko and yatai floats, weighing 10-20 tons each and lit up with countless lanterns, climb up a steep slope with a mikoshi (a portable shrine). The fireworks illuminating the clear winter evening skies are another of the attractions of this festival.