Tag - festivals

 
Menu
Search
 
July 04, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

FESTIVALS

Tatsumi Onose (right), who plays the part of Commodore Matthew Perry in Shimoda's Black Ship Festival, says the historical episode the event is based on should be remembered for its positives more than its negatives.
LIFE / Travel
May 8, 2025
Celebrating Japan’s defeat at Shimoda’s Black Ship Festival
Held this year from May 16 to 18, an event to the south of Tokyo turns a historical episode of national humiliation into a plain old good time.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2025
Ishiba not to visit Yasukuni Shrine during spring festival
No sitting prime minister has paid a visit to the shrine since December 2013, when Shinzo Abe did so.
Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 17, 2025
The race to save 20th-century history
Analog recordings are at risk of disappearing as old tech breaks down and spare parts run out.
A set of miniature "hina" dolls from the late Edo Period (1603-1868), collected by hina furnishings researcher Yumiko Kawauchi
CULTURE
Feb 10, 2025
Miniatures bring hidden worlds to life at Tokyo cultural site
A set of dolls from the late Edo Period is among the items on display on the premises of Hotel Gajoen Tokyo.
Hindu pilgrims take a dip along the banks of Sangam, ahead of the <i>maha</i> Kumbh Mela festival in the city of Prayagraj on Sunday. Beside India's holy rivers, a makeshift city is being built for a Hindu religious festival expected to be so vast it will be seen from space.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 26, 2024
India readies for 400 million pilgrims at mammoth festival
The Kumbh Mela, a millennia-old festival, is held once every 12 years at the site where the holy Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers meet.
Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront area will host a major international art festival called Tokyo Odaiba Triennale 2025 from October to December next year.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2024
Triennale aims to energize Tokyo's Odaiba area with art
The event will bring together works by famed Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama and other artists from Japan and abroad.
Students from Agatsuma’s butoh workshop, also part of Sumi-Yume, will be joining her and professional butoh dancer Tomoshi Shioya for this weekend’s shows.
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 8, 2024
Butoh dances to the sounds of Hokusai’s hometown
Performances of the avant-garde dance form are part of a program dedicated to the revered artist and celebrating the local community in Sumida Ward.
The Kurama Fire Festival is one of Japan's most visceral 'matsuri' (festivals), but growing throngs of spectators could bring changes in the future.
LIFE / Travel
Nov 2, 2024
At Japan’s hottest festival, crowds threaten to smother the flames
Despite the growing throngs of attendees, it’s the smaller details of the Kurama Fire Festival that add up to more than the sum of its parts.
Men called seko watch bulls fight during the ushi no tsunotsuki event in the Yamakoshi district of Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 13.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 23, 2024
Bullfights continue as symbol of reconstruction after Niigata quake
The former village was devastated by a quake that struck the region in October 2004, killing 68 people and injuring 4,805 others.
Fukinagashi streamers are displayed in Sendai on Tuesday as the Sendai Tanabata Festival began in the city.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 7, 2024
Sendai Tanabata Festival begins with prayers for Noto on display
The festival, known as one of the three largest in the Tohoku region, features ornaments decorated with wishes for the return of daily life in the quake-hit Noto area.
Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jul 21, 2024
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals
Can a 700-year-old dance have an effect on extreme heat or torrential rain? Probably not. When you're feeling powerless, though, any little thing helps.
People wait for the start of the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival in Tokyo last year, marking the return of the event after pandemic-era cancellations.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 9, 2024
Start circling the dates for fireworks season now
When you think of a Japanese summer, inevitably you'll think of fireworks. The displays have been a part of the culture for centuries.
Junichiro “John” Imaeda (middle row center) decided to start Ajate, a band that infuses traditional Japanese festival music with Afrobeat, after spending three months traveling around Ghana and Burkina Faso to absorb the music of West Africa.
CULTURE / Music
May 31, 2024
Ajate's joyous blend of Afrobeat and Japanese festival music
The nine-piece project brings together sounds from disparate lands to celebrate connectivity and community.
Zashikibina, an exhibit by a group organizing hina doll displays in Fukuoka Prefecture, depicts the era of "The Tale of Genji," in the Gyosho room at Hyakudan Kaidan in Tokyo.
CULTURE
Feb 18, 2024
Hina doll exhibition in Tokyo highlights Girls' Day tradition
The event is being held for the first time in four years, after it was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Men in loincloths scramble for a bag of talismans during the Sominsai festival at Kokuseki Temple in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2024
Festival with 1,000-year history succumbs to graying population
Kokuseki Temple's Sominsai festival used to take place from the seventh day of Lunar New Year through to the following morning.
The dekayama float ritual of the Seihaku Festival is held in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, in May 2019.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2024
UNESCO-listed float festival to be skipped in wake of Noto quake
The ritual in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, is believed to date back to 1473.
The Sapporo Snow Festival offers outdoor dining, markets, sports, ice sculptures and more across three event sites.
LIFE / Travel
Jan 6, 2024
Asia's winter festivals: Snow, fire and spectacle galore
The ancient city of Nara wards off the wintertime darkness with an unusual tradition: lighting a local mountain on fire.
A performer going by the name “Tanefukube” leads shishi-odori dancers during Tono Meguritoroge’s grand finale at Rokko-shi shrine.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 30, 2023
Dancing with ghosts at Tono’s rural folk festival
The Tono region is Japan’s go-to setting of scary stories to tell in the dark.
Take a moment to look up at the sky tonight, see if you can spot some lunar rabbits.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 29, 2023
An autumnal custom teaches Japan to appreciate the season
While not as popular as its springtime cherry blossom cousin, moon-viewing season still has its own specific customs.
The Man effigy looms over the Burning Man encampment after a severe rainstorm left tens of thousands of revelers stranded in mud in the festival's Black Rock City in the Nevada desert.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2023
Burning Man 2023 is a climate-crisis parable
At first, Burning Man festivalgoers shunned environmental protesters. Then the climate crisis, and extraordinary rains, caught up with them.
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Onosato's yokozuna promotion causes rare quirk in new sumo rankings
Newly promoted yokozuna Onosato holds a copy of the latest banzuke ranking in Anjo, Aichi Prefecture, on Monday.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Over 900 earthquakes strike Tokara islands in space of two weeks
A screenshot shows many quakes occurring in the Tokara islands over the past 30 days, in this image taken from the U.S. Geological Survey website.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy
Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER