| February |
|
|
|
|
| Annual date |
In 2005 |
Name |
Place |
What happens |
| 10th-11th |
|
Oni (demon) Festival |
Toyohashi City |
This unique festival is held at Akumikanbe Shinmeisha Shrine and
has been designated as an Important National Intangible Cultural Asset.
Incorporating myths into ritual music and dance, the festival is part
of the ritual of praying for an abundant crop harvest. |
| 11th |
|
Damine Dengaku |
Shitara Town |
Three performances of ritual dancing and music are held in the inner
sanctuary and the compound of the Damine Temple in the afternoon,
evening, and morning. These powerfully simple pantomimes of rice planting
and harvesting accompanied with dance and music are faithful representations
of medieval performing arts and are very famous in Japan. |
| Sat. closest to Feb. 7, which is New Year’s day in the old
Lunar Calendar |
12th |
Oni Festival at Takisanji Temple |
Okazaki City |
This “fire” festival is held to pray for the safety
of the people and an abundant harvest. It features blazing torches
burning so brightly they look as if they will set the main hall on
fire and the performance of a boisterous demon dance. |
| Second Sun. |
13th |
Toba Fire Festival |
Hazu Town |
The festival is held at Toba Shinmeisha Shrine and is said to have
started 1,200 years ago. A massive pile of bamboo and dried grasses
five meters high is set aflame, and men take out a sacred tree from
the pile and offer it to the shrine as a prayer for a good harvest
that year. |
| End of Feb. to beginning of Mar. |
|
Sori-ike Plum Blossom Festival |
Chita City |
With around 1,800 plum trees around the Sori Pond in beautiful bloom,
the area is an ideal locale for the plum blossom festival. |
| April |
|
|
|
|
| Annual date |
In 2005 |
Name |
Place |
What happens |
| Beginning to middle of Apr. |
|
Cherry Blossom Festival |
Throughout the prefecture |
During the daytime pleasant events like tea parties and sketching
parties are held in many places, and at night the cherry trees are
lit up providing a beautiful nighttime scene of the cherry blossoms. |
| 3rd |
|
Peach Blossom Festival |
Ichinomiya City |
This festival commemorates the day of the enshrinement of Ame-no-ho-akari-no-mikoto
as the deity of the Masumida Shrine. It features a procession of warriors
in a full array of armor, young samurai, Shinto priests, and a sacred
palanquin, accompanied by colorfully decorated horses. |
| First Sun. |
3rd |
Inuyama Festival |
Inuyama City |
First staged in 1635 in the Edo Period, the Inuyama festival features
a parade of 13 traditional floats designated as important cultural
properties, all carrying elaborately-made mechanical puppets that
perform with music. |
| Second Sat. and Sun. |
9th-10th |
Tokoname Festival |
Tokoname City |
Six gorgeously decorated floats parade through the streets, and
at night a beautiful picture scroll is unrolled and illuminated by
bright lanterns. |
| June |
|
|
|
|
| Annual date |
In 2005 |
Name |
Place |
What happens |
| June 1st-September 30 |
|
Cormorant fishing on the Kiso River |
Inuyama City |
This is said to be the oldest cormorant fishing in Japan. With Inuyama
Castle as a backdrop, passengers can ride one of the four cormorant
fishing boats that glide down the Kiso River. |
| 1st-30th |
|
Katahara Hot Springs Hydrangea Festival |
Gamagori City |
When the rainy season comes, around 50,000 hydrangea plants bloom
in Katahara Hot Springs in a broad sweep from Hodaiji Temple to the
river bank. Visitors especially enjoy the brilliantly lit up flowers
at night. |
| 5th |
|
Atsuta Festival |
Nagoya City |
This is the biggest event among the 70 or so held at the Atsuta
Jingu Shrine throughout the year. The Atsuta Festival features the
kento makiwara, which are large bundles of straw to which votive lanterns
are attached, a fireworks display in Atsuta Park, various kinds of
martial and performing arts exhibitions, and other festivities that
turn the entire district surrounding the shrine into a sea of brilliant
colors. |
| First Sat. and Sun. |
4th-5th |
Owari-Nishibiwajima Festival |
Nishibiwajima-cho |
During the festival, five floats, their wooden axles straining with
the load, are pulled along the Old Mino Road. The festival attracts
around 200,000 people from inside and outside the prefecture every
year. On Saturday night there is a spectacular fireworks show. |
| July |
|
|
|
|
| Annual date |
In 2005 |
Name |
Place |
What happens |
| Third Fri., Sat., Sun. |
15th-17th |
Toyohashi Gion Festival |
Toyohashi City |
This Gion Festival boasts a history of over 400 years, and it is
very well-known for its spectacular “pistol” fireworks
display in which small and large cannon-like tube fireworks are held
when they are set off. The fireworks displays are held at the precincts
of the Yoshida Jinja Shrine as a religious rite on the eve of the
festival and on the banks of the Toyo River on the evening before
the festival’s last day. Every year there is also a costumed
procession of the shogun Yoritomo and his retinue. |
| Fri., Sat., and Sun. closest to the 20th |
22nd-24th |
Toyokawa Festival |
Toyokawa City |
Held at the Susano Shrine, this festival also features the “pistol”
fireworks and elaborate fireworks displays that scorch the summer
skies in the magnificent tradition of Mikawa area fireworks. Among
these displays is the fuse-like burning of two hemp ropes that are
stretched from the outer shrine to the shrine’s gate. The flames
and smoke that flare off the burning rope are truly spectacular, and
the display has been designated by the prefecture as an Intangible
Folk Cultural Asset. |
| On or near the 20th |
|
Harbor Festival |
Nagoya City |
Held on the national holiday Marine Day on July 20, the festival
features a wide variety of events that center around a maritime theme,
including a parade and fireworks display at the Nagoya Port Garden
Pier. |
| Fourth Sat., Sun. |
23rd-24th |
Owari Tsushima Tenno Festival |
Tsushima City |
On Saturday after sunset, five straw boats brilliantly lit up with
lanterns flow up the Tenno River to the accompaniment of flute music.
There is also a fireworks display on the river. On the following Sunday
morning, the five boats are redecorated with performing puppets placed
on the top deck, and the boats flow down the river again. From the
lead boat, a pike-bearer who has been purified by a Shinto rite jumps
into the river with a cloth pike and then offers it to Tsushima Shrine. |
| Last Sun. |
|
Ikada (Raft) Carnival |
Shinshiro City |
Surrounded by spectacular natural scenery, 130 handmade rafts race
down the Toyo River in exciting contests enjoyed by both children
and adults. Carnival festivities are held in Sakurabuchi Park along
the Toyo River. |
| August |
|
|
|
|
| Annual date |
In 2005 |
Name |
Place |
What happens |
| 3-day period from first Fri. |
5th-7th |
Anjo Tanabata Festival |
Anjo City |
For over 3.5 kilometers, huge paper balls, elaborate moving figures,
and billowing, seven-colored Tanabata pennants festoon the shopping
district in Anjo City. Along the streets, various parades and events
unfold before visitors. |
| Fourth Sat. and Sun. |
|
Tokoname Ceramics Festival |
Tokoname City |
This is a huge bargain sale wholesale market held to promote Tokoname
ceramic wares. In addition to the market, the festival features a
number of events, including a stunning fireworks display held in the
cool of the summer evening. The festival is held on the grounds of
the Tokoname Boat Racing area. |
| End of month |
|
Mikawa Seaside Park Festival |
Mito-cho |
A fishing tournament, photography contest, treasure hunt, gate ball
tournament, and other events are held in this beautiful location.
|
| October |
|
|
|
|
| Annual date |
In 2005 |
Name |
Place |
What happens |
| 10th |
|
Historical procession of Oda Nobunaga |
Kiyosu Town |
This is the main event of the Kiyosu Castle Hometown Festival, which
is held from October 1 to November 30. Around 650 people take part
in the procession, with 170 participants costumed as samurai, including
Oda Nobunaga when he won his first major military campaign. |
| Middle of month |
|
Nagoya Festival |
Nagoya City |
This grand event brilliantly colors the Nagoya autumn. The main
attraction is the huge parade that features a dazzling procession
of the three local feudal heroes, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyosi,
and Tokugawa Ieyasu. The parade includes 5,600 people and stretches
for 6 kilometers. |
| Third Sat., Sun. |
15th-16th |
Toyohashi Festival |
Toyohashi City |
This is a huge festival participated in by many citizens of Nagoya.
There are numerous events including a carnival parade, citizens’
dancing processions, and rousing dance contests. Over the two days
of the festival, an estimated 660,000 people join the festivities.
|
| November |
|
|
|
|
| Annual date |
In 2005 |
Name |
Place |
What happens |
| 1st-30th |
|
Mt. Horaiji Maple Leaf Festival |
Horai City |
During the entire month of November, a wide variety of events are
held, including hiking meets, outdoor stage events, Japanese fencing
and archery tournaments, exhibitions of local products, and so on. |
| 1st-30th |
|
Korankei Maple Leaf Festival |
Asuke City |
Many different kinds of events are held all over the Korankei area
such as tea drinking parties, Japanese taiko (drum) contests, etc.
In the evenings the maple trees are beautifully lit up. |
| 22nd-23rd |
|
Toyokawa Inari (God of Harvests) Autumn Festival |
Toyokawa City |
The festival is especially noted for the huge paper lanterns nearly
10 meters high and 5 meters in diameter and the countless smaller
lanterns hanging in the shrine’s compound. As dusk falls, the
lanterns seem to be lit all at once, making a very grand scene. Other
attractions are the portable shrine procession and an outdoor market.
|
