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Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Nara: Ochamori

Serving tea in a giant bowl. Japanese tea is made with huge tea utensils and served in a giant bowls. Admission is 3,000 JPY.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Kyoto: Ho-Taiko Hanami Gyoretsu

Cherry-blossom viewing Procession, featuring a parade of people clad in gorgeous costumes of Momoyama period (1573-1603?) marching under the cherry blossoms.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Hyogo: Himeji-jo Yozakura-kai & Kan-ou-kai

Cherry Blossom Festival in Himeji Castle. Please enter by 8:30 p.m. for night cherry blossom viewing. If it rains, Koto and Taiko music performances will be postponed to the following day.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Nagano: Kuroda Ningyo Joruri

Local puppet play, designated as National Important Tangible Folk-Cultural Property.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Gifu: Furukawa Matsuri

Annual Festival of the shrine, designated as one of the National Intangible Folk-Cultural Property, and registered as the Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. The highlight of this festival is Okoshi-daiko, in which hundreds of partially clothed men parade on the streets beating drums and singing...
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Gifu: Tajimi Toki Matsuri

Ceramic Festival. About 150,000 people come to buy "Mino" ceramic every spring. Many other events are held in the city during the festival period.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Aichi: Unagoji Matsuri

Festival featuring leisurely-drawn Dashi, mikoshi and folk dancers going between Ushikubo Hachimansha Shrine and Tennosha Shrine.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Aichi: Inuyama Matsuri

Festival, registered as the Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, featuring 13 gorgeously decorated Yama with Karakuri Ningyo, parading on the city's main streets.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Yamanashi: Shingen-ko Matsuri

Festival in commemoration of the famous feudal lords "Takeda Shingen (1521-1573)."
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Yamagata: Yonezawa Uesugi Matsuri

Festival in commemoration of the famous warlord "Uesugi Kenshin (1530-1578)."
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Chiba: Narita Taiko Matsuri

Traditional Japanese Taiko Festival. "Sengan Hana-Daiko," drum beating taken part in by about 800 parishioners, and "Naritasan Sennen Yobutai," a millennium night stage show of drum-beating under torchlights in the compound of the temple, are the highlight.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Kanagawa: Kamakura Matsuri

Spring Festival to cerebrate the beginning of sightseeing season in Kamakura since 1959. If it heavily rains, events will be canceled.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Tochigi: Yayoi Sai

The festival is with over a 1,200-year history. Parade of Hanayatai (11 house-shaped floats, colorfully embellished with artificial cherry blossoms and paper lanterns) and three mikoshi are the highlight.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Kanagawa: Menkake Gyoretsu (Kanamara Matsuri)

Fertility Festival.The shrine is noted for its Menkake Gyoretsu, a parade of masked people carrying the sacred palanquins containing symbols of phallic gods. Shinto dance by shrine maidens, festival music will be also performed in the shrine precincts. Schedule & Key events: cancelled
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Kanagawa: Kan-ou-no-Yube

Cherry Blossom Festival. This Japanese-style landscape garden has about 300 cherry trees. You can enjoy viewing of cherry blossoms even in the evening. Admission to the garden is 700JPY. Please enter by 8:30 p.m..
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Tokyo: Shobo Junshokusha Irei-sai

Memorial service for fire fighters who died on duty, conducted by members of the Edo Shobo Kinen-kai in the compound of the temple.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Tokyo: Asakusa Yabusame

Kusajishi (Japanese archery, targeting on a fake deer) and Yabusame are held in the park. Please be reminded that space for Yabusame is limited. If it heavily rains, events will be canceled.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Tokyo: Hono Ozumo

Hono Ozumo featuring Sumo matches dedicated by some 100 Rikishi (Sumo wrestlers). This event is open to the first 6,000 people. Admission is free.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Tokyo: Shirasagi-no-mai

Shirasagi (white heron) Dance with a history of over 1000years is performed twice a day. Various characters in traditional attire including dancers parade from Denboin Tempe via Nakamise street to the Main Hall, and Shirasagi-no-mai is performed with Japanese musical instrumets on the ground of the...
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Tokyo: Bunkyo Tsutsuji Matsuri

Tsutsuji (azalea) Flower Festival. You can enjoy viewing of about 3,000 azalea blossoms and art performances. Admission to the garden is 200JPY. Stalls selling potted plants, antiques and others are set up in the shrine precincts. If it rains, art performances will be canceled.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Tokyo: Haru Matsuri

Spring Festival which consists of two festivals, Goju-no-to Festival - five story pagoda is open to the public, and Floral Festival to celebrate the Buddha's Birthday. "Hana-no-sei," a parade of children pulling a papier-mache white elephant, is the highlight.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Tokyo: Gyoki Daie

Buddhist Devotionals in commemoration of Priest Honen's death. Honen Shonin (1133-1212) is a Japanese Buddhist monk, the founder of the Jodo Sect of Japanese Buddhism.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Tokyo: Tanashi Daruma Ichi

Dharma Doll Fair. Stalls selling Dharma dolls are set up in the compound of the temple.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Tokyo: Chiyoda-no-Sakura Matsuri

Cherry Blossom Festival. You can enjoy view of cherry blossoms along the Chidorigafuchi path and in the shrine precincts.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Tokyo: Bokutei Sakura Matsuri

Cherry Blossom Festival. You can enjoy viewing of cherry blossoms in the park. Some events are scheduled on Sakurabashi Bridge over Sumida River and other sites on Saturdays and Sundays during the festival period.
Things to Do
Mar 27, 2020

Tokyo: Ueno Sakura Matsuri

Cherry Blossom Festival. You can enjoy viewing of about 1,200 blooming cherry trees even in the evening, as thousands of Bonbori (paper lanterns) are lit up.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Mar 26, 2020

Springtime cuisine with a French twist

Springtime cuisine with a French twist Dishes prepared by executive chef Masahiro Ishihara of Blanc Rouge at The Tokyo Station Hotel speaks of elegant, high-end modern French cuisine. The acclaimed chef sources his produce from all over Japan with menus typically skewing toward prime meats and seafood....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 25, 2020

Lee Ufan: The same but different

Lee Ufan’s new paintings look very different depending on where you are standing. From a distance, when you can take in several of the large canvases at the same time, abstract shapes seem to emphatically announce themselves as existing; however, they are also pointedly ambiguous as to what they are....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 24, 2020

Don't squander the chance to shine as a COVID-19 outlier

Despite Japan's ability to keep COVID-19's spread in check, few countries have looked to the Abe administration as an example to follow.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 24, 2020

Public health and political dogma

Both national and international approaches have to be pursued with balance, vision and wisdom if the COVID-19 pandemic is to be comprehensively defeated.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami