The Kanto Festival is one of Japan's representative summer festivals held annually in August in Akita City, Akita Prefecture. This festival is known as a traditional event where lantern poles symbolizing rice plants are raised to pray for a good harvest and good health. At night, about 200 lantern poles light up the city, creating a fantastic and spectacular sight. Particularly noteworthy is the skill of skilled 'tegata' who support the giant lantern poles balanced on their foreheads, shoulders,... Show more

One of the four major festivals in Tohoku, this is Yamagata's representative summer festival. It is held for three days on August 5, 6, and 7 every year. Many dancers parade through the city's main streets, dancing to the Hanagasa Ondo (dance song) accompanied by the call of "yassho, makasho" and the heroic Hanagasa taiko drums. As the name "hanagasa" implies, hats decorated with safflowers, the prefectural flower, are a must for the dancers. The dynamic undulation of the hanagasa as the large... Show more

This is one of the largest fireworks festivals in Japan, with spectator seats along both banks of the mighty Shinano River. The attraction of the fireworks display is the large fireworks that fill the night sky, such as the "Shosanshakudama," a large, 650-meter-diameter ball, and the "Phoenix," a 2-kilometer-wide firework display for praying for reconstruction. The Nagaoka Reconstruction Festival, held the following year as a memorial service for those who lost their lives in the Nagaoka air rai... Show more

The 'Suigo Sawara Ayame Matsuri,' which began in 1952, has become a symbol of early summer in Ibaraki, where many tourists from within and outside the prefecture visit to enjoy the unique scenery of Japan. The Suigo Sawara Ayame Garden, the venue for the festival, is home to approximately 1 million irises of around 500 varieties, and typically reaches its peak bloom after early June. During the festival, unique events specific to the Suigo region are held, such as leisurely rowboat tours along t... Show more

Mikawa-Ishiki Suwa Shrine, where the Mikawa-Ishiki Grand Lantern Festival is held every August, is said to have its origin in the Eiroku period (1558-69), when a branch spirit from Suwa-taisha Shrine in Nagano Prefecture was invited and enshrined as Suwa-daimyojin in Ichishiki. In those days, Kaima appeared every summer and fall, ravaging fields and harming people and livestock. The villagers offered a sword to the god and lit a huge bonfire to pray for the extermination of the sea demons, and t... Show more

The Kanumisai Hinamatsuri Festival is held from New Year's Day to March 31 at Akiba Sohonden Kanumisai. The festival originally began with the decoration of hina dolls brought in for doll memorial services.

This is a photo of the Mantosai festival held at Hattasan Soneiji, one of the Enshu Sanzan, in Fukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture. The Mantosai festival is held at Hattasan Soneiji on July 9th and 10th every year. July 10th is said to be the most auspicious day of the year, and it is believed that by paying a visit on that day, one can receive the benefits equivalent to 46,000 days.

Asia's largest hot air balloon competition is held every year in early November on the banks of the Kasegawa River in Saga City. Today, more than 100 hot air balloons participate, coloring the late autumn sky of Saga. Courtesy of Saga City Tourism Promotion Division (Source: Saga Prefecture Tourism Federation)