Whenever you visit Tokyo, the chances are there’ll be a festival (matsuri) taking place somewhere in the city. The tourist information centres can provide comprehensive lists of events in and around Tokyo, or check in the English press for what’s on. Below is a review of the city’s biggest festivals ( for more about nationwide celebrations). Note that dates may change, so be sure to double-check before setting out.
The first shrine visit of the year (hatsu-mōde) draws the crowds to Meiji-jingū, Hie-jinja, Kanda Myōjin and other city shrines. Performances of traditional dance and music take place at Yasukuni-jinja. National holiday.
At Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba, firemen in Edo-period costume pull off dazzling stunts atop long bamboo ladders.
Archery contest and other ancient rituals at Meiji-jingū to celebrate “Coming-of-Age Day”. A good time to spot colourful kimono, here and at other shrines.
The last day of winter is celebrated with a bean-scattering ceremony to drive away evil. The liveliest festivities take place at Sensō-ji, Kanda Myōjin, Zōjō-ji and Hie-jinja.
Cherry-blossom-viewing parties get into their stride. The best displays are at Chidorigafuchi Park and nearby Yasukuni-jinja, Aoyoma Cemetery, Ueno-kōen and Sumida-kōen.
One of Tokyo’s top three festivals, taking place in odd-numbered years at Kanda Myōjin, during which people in Heian-period costume escort eighty gilded mikoshi through the streets.
Tokyo’s most rumbustious annual bash, when over one hundred mikoshi are jostled through the streets of Asakusa, accompanied by lion dancers, geisha and musicians.
In even-numbered years the last of the big three festivals (after Kanda and Sanja) takes place, focusing on colourful processions of mikoshi through Akasaka.
The four-night summer festival at Tokyo’s most controversial shrine is well worth attending for its jovial parades, Obon dances and festoons of lanterns.
The summer skies explode with thousands of fireworks, harking back to traditional “river-opening” ceremonies. The Sumida-gawa display is the most spectacular (view it from riverboats or Asakusa’s Sumida-kōen on the last Sat in July), but those in Edogawa, Tamagawa, Arakawa and Harumi come close.
Every three years Tomioka Hachiman-gū, a shrine in Fukugawa, east across the Sumida-gawa from central Tokyo, hosts the city’s wettest festival, when spectators throw buckets of water over a hundred mikoshi being carried through the streets. The next will take place in 2011.
Fairs selling kumade, bamboo rakes decorated with lucky charms, are held at shrines on “rooster days”, according to the zodiacal calendar. The main fair is at Ōtori-jinja (Iriya Station).
Children aged 3, 5 and 7 don traditional garb to visit the shrines, particularly Meiji-jingū, Hie-jinja and Yasukuni-jinja.
(wwww.tiff-jp.net) One of the world’s top competitive film festivals, with a focus on Japanese and Asian releases. The main venues for the week-long festival are the cinemas in Roppongi Hills and Shibuya’s Bunkamura, though screenings take place at halls and cinemas throughout the city.
The build-up to New Year begins with a battledore fair outside Asakusa’s Sensō-ji temple.
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