Summer is here! With the start of summer season, comes the start of endless events here in Japan, and marking the start summer festival season! Wherever you go in Japan during the period of June to August (maybe September!), there’s bound to be some sort of festival happening in the local town.
Now the what’s actually happening at these festivals can vary depending on time of year, town, and what kind of festival it is. Some can be one day, most last 2-3 days. Some may include a parade of sorts. If it’s a shrine festival, it’s bound to take place near a shrine (duh!), and will have a main event consisting of parading around a portable shrine (omikoshi) carried by hardworking people (usually men, those things are heavy and huge!). At the end, there will probably be a grand celebration or ceremony ending at the shrine. Maybe there will be a fire or two.
You’ll also probably see lanterns lighting up the area and paths at nighttime, really giving festival vibes. Any festival will more than likely have food stalls, or maybe food trucks. The usual street food culprits include fried chicken, French fries, okonomiyaki, yakisoba, shaved ice, candy apples, and chocolate bananas. Recently tanghulu and 10yen coin breads have been trending, but be on the lookout for other unusual items!
Aside from food stalls, you might see some stalls where you can play games. These include goldfish scooping, shooting down a prize, ring toss, among others, giving you a chance to win prizes.
Normal clothes are totally okay, unless you’re taking part for some reason. If you want to go above and beyond and really take in the atmosphere, wear or rent a yukata! It’s like a lighter version of a kimono. People also wear hair accessories and geta shoes, and bring small purses. Usually there’s a vendor selling masks of characters from anime or other children’s shows that you can also accessorize with.
Depending on the summer festival, there might be fireworks on one day or all days, so be sure to check the program if there is one. Sometimes seating requires reservations, or it’s first come first serve. Some festivals might have a stage where performances last all day. Some might have events where you can watch groups dance, or even join along on the fun and casually dance with them.
Festivals aren’t limited to summer, but typically festival season is most popular during this time. Try seeing if you can catch one sometime!
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