Japan is a country that attaches great importance to festivals. Throughout the year, various festivals are held one after another.
Below are the three famous festivals in Japan that I shared. Let’s take a look.
Japan's three famous festivals Japan's "matsuri" is a ritual that points to praying to gods and worshiping ancestors. It has now evolved into a celebration similar to Chinese temple fairs.
The three most famous festivals in Japan: the Gion Festival in Kyoto, the Tenjin Festival in Osaka and the Kanda Festival in Tokyo are held between May and August every year, that is, in the summer.
Japanese people who are busy with work on weekdays take this opportunity to enjoy the festive fun with family and friends.
It's hot summer, if you have the opportunity to visit Japan's three major summer festivals, join their carnival ranks, vent your daily depression, and experience the "dynamic" traditional Japanese culture.
Sit in a teahouse on the uphill road to Kiyomizu-dera Temple and savor Kyoto’s unique matcha cakes.
Walking along the winding paths of Osaka Castle, you can admire the ancient castle tower through the gaps of the red leaves.
Standing by the window of Tokyo Tower, looking at Mount Fuji looming in the distance.
These are all must-have itineraries for traveling to Japan, but how can you miss the world-famous major "festivals" on a rare trip to the island country.
Kyoto Gion Festival: Convenience store tickets, mountain climbing, katana floats The Gion Festival is a sacrificial ceremony held at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto. It is one of the three major festivals in Japan along with the Tenjin Festival in Osaka and the Kanda Festival in Tokyo.
It is a grand event, with various activities held starting from July 1st every year and lasting for a whole month.
Legend has it that its predecessor was the Gion Soul Resurrection Party held about 1,100 years ago.
During the Zhenguan period, a plague was prevalent in Kyoto. On the order of the king, 66 sticks were erected in Shenquan Garden to welcome and worship the gods of Gion. People sent boys in the city to Shenquan Garden in the hope of getting rid of bad luck.
In the middle of the Heian period, the scale expanded unprecedentedly, and activities such as Sora Raku, Soda Raku, and Saru Raku were added, making it more lively and prosperous.
The Gion Festival is actually popular all over Japan, and it is mostly based on Kyoto's prototype and localized transformation. However, the most famous one is still the long-standing tradition of Kyoto's Gion Festival.
The main activities include Yamagata float parade, lanterns to welcome gods, flower umbrella parade, etc.
Among them, the Yamagata Float Parade was recognized as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2001.
This year's Gion Festival is different from the past. After 50 years, the Yamagata float parade is once again divided into two parts, namely the "front festival" parade on July 17 and the "back festival parade" on July 24.
The 17th and 24th are the days when the gods travel and return respectively. Yamagata floats are responsible for cleaning the roads to and from the festival.
In previous years, the number of floats was 32. This year, the number of floats was increased to 33. Each float has a different name.
From a structural point of view, the mountain-shaped float is divided into an upper spear and a lower mountain.
There are various types of spears, with the heaviest weighing 12 tons. About 180 people are responsible for assembly, parade and disassembly.
You can climb on the floats by purchasing a "climbing ticket" at a convenience store. However, women are not allowed to climb on the "Jangdao float" and "Putting down the float".
Men, women, old and young all took part in the battle, and the children looked very excited. Another big topic this year was the reappearance of the "big boat float".
Since the Kagami Gate Incident in the first year of Genji, a large number of building materials for the large ship floats have been missing.
Through the efforts of relevant personnel, this year's large ship float made by Shiraki appeared as the finale of the festival, which aroused everyone's expectations.
The best place to watch the final festival is Heyuan Dantong, where you can continue to enjoy the "Flower Umbrella Parade" after the float parade.
Before the parade begins, many of the floats will be open for viewing, and the sacred lanterns will be lit up at night. Crowds of people shopping will come in waves. In the days before the festival begins, Kyoto is like a city that never sleeps.
Osaka Tenjin Festival: The most unmissable conger eel dish Tenjin Festival is held all over Japan every year, among which the Tenjin Festival at Osaka Tenmangu Shrine is the most famous.
The Tenjin Festival in Osaka began two years after the completion of Tenmangu Shrine (951 AD).
The ritual at that time was to throw the Kamoboko (spear) into the river, and a Japanese Shinto ritual called 禊? was held at the landing place of the Kamoboko.
This kind of welcoming ceremony is the original form of the traditional sacrificial activity "Funato Go" in the Tenjin Festival today.
Nowadays, every July on the banks of the Osaka River, there are "treasure boats" decorated with lights and colorful decorations, fireworks bloom, and people revel.
Food is the most important thing for the people, and there is no such thing as delicious food during the festival.
Plump conger eel, octopus from Akashi, and fried fish cakes are all seasonal ingredients you can find on the table.
The Tenjinbashisuji Shopping Street in Monzen Town was bustling with people, everyone was enjoying blanched conger eel, sweet and spicy barbecue, and octopus salad.
Attendees of Togorye eat traditional white glutinous rice without red bean paste.
The most unmissable item at the Tenjin Festival is the conger eel dish.
There are many rainy days in summer, and the moray eel is nourished by it, and its body contains a large number of fish eggs, which are fat and thick.
Conger eel has a lot of spines, and ordinary people don’t know how to remove the bones. You can ask the chef at the fish shop to handle it for you and take it home to make dishes such as barbecued conger eel or conger eel hot pot.