Festivals

Namahage Sedo Festival The Oga Peninsula of Akita is home to namahage,—a kind of demonlike ogre— who roam the region in winter looking for lazy or disobedient children. The Namahage Sedo Festival is a traditional event that began in 1964, which combines the folklore tradition of ‘Namahage’ and the sacred Shinto ritual of ‘Saitousai’ into one main spectacle. Thanks to their cultural significance, Oga’s Namahage were added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in November 2018, to join seven other prefectures similarly offering raiho-shin rites, where people don masks or costumes to become certain deities.

Nebuta Matsuri

The Aomori Nebuta Festival is a Japanese fire festival held annually between August 2nd and 7th in Aomori city. Every year more than 3 million visitors gather for the festivities from all over Japan and abroad to attend. During the festival, over twenty dynamic nebutas – massive lanterns floats based on kabuki or mythical stories – parade through the city of Aomori. On the evenings of August 2nd through 6th and daytime of the 7th, colorfully dressed Haneto (nebuta dancers) as well as flutists and drummers convey the nebuta floats through the city. On the night of the 7th, the nebutas are placed in boats and ferried around the Aomori Bay as fireworks light up the night sky to conclude the festival. The Aomori Nebuta Festival has been designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties of Japan in 1980.

https://www.en-aomori.com/culture-038.html

Awa Odori Summer festivals all across Japan fill the warm night air with music, laughter and infectious energy, but few are as lively as Tokushima City’s Awa Odori. It’s the biggest, baddest dance festival in the county featuring colorful costumes and female dancers wearing characteristic folded tatami hats.

Annually from Aug. 12 to 15, thousands of dancers and over a million spectators descend on the peaceful city in Shikoku—the smallest of Japan’s four main islands. The festival’s name comes from the ancient name for Tokushima Prefecture — Awa— and the Japanese word for dance, odori.

The high-energy and jubilant celebration dates back over 400 years! https://travel.gaijinpot.com/awa-odori-dance-festival/