This Festival Only Happens Twice a Year in Japan
If you are looking to discover the best things to do in Japan, you have probably noticed there is a lot of talk about the many festivals that happen around the country. There are hundreds of thousands of them (estimates vary from 100,000 to 300,000), but the one I’m about to show you is one of the most special in the whole country and visitors only have two chances a year to see it.
📍 Takayama Festival
🌸 Spring Festival
Here is how the festival goes
- Gojunko Procession: The deity of Hie Jinja Shrine, nicknamed as Sanno-Sama, is usually in the shrine and it only comes out for the two days of the Takayama Spring Festival. During those two days, Sanno-Sama travels around the city and hundreds of locals parade with it, playing music and performing to clean the streets of evil spirits. Experience this on the 14th of April when they take Sanno-Sama out of the Shrine and on the 15th of April when it returns to its original place.
- Gathering of the wooden floats: The famous wooden floats that are the centerpieces of the Takayama Festival only come out twice a year and this is one of those times. Those floats are called Yatai and they are extremely ornamented wooden structures, with striking colors and fabrics that make them so special that they have even been designated as tangible folklore cultural assets by the Japanese Government.
- Karakuri Performance: Once the wooden floats come out to the streets of Takayama, some of them gather close to Otabisho Sanctuary and that is where you can see the famous Karakuri performance. It consists of several puppet performances on the floats, portraying traditional japanese tales and legends and attracting crowds to experience it every time. This performance happens in the morning and afternoon of both days of the festival.
- Night Festival (starting at about 18.30 on April 14th): This is by far the most beautiful part of the Takayama Spring Festival, when the 12 Yatai parade around the city, decorated with lanterns that light up as the sun goes down. TIP: get a good spot by the river, with a view to the Nakabashi bridge. That is what I did and seeing them come with all the bright lanterns with the sakura framing that view was one of the most beautiful experiences of my whole life.
The Spring Festival is a huge deal in Takayama and as it coincides with Sakura season in Japan, it is one of their busiest times of the year. If you are planning on visiting Takayama to see the festival, make sure you book your accommodation well in advance, as hotels are often fully booked months before this popular event.
🍁 Autumn Festival
The Autumn Festival in Takayama happens every year on Octover 9th and 10th and it honors the deity of Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine. During this festival, Takayama‘s beautiful wooden floats come out again and the locals express their grattitude for the harvests before they start preparing for the snowy winter that is coming.
Here is how the festival goes
- Goshinko Procession: just like during the Spring Festival, the shrine’s deity leaves its shrine for the only time in the whole year. Except this time it’s the deity known as Hachiman-sama: the one that is honored at the Autumn Festival.
- Gathering of the Yatai: contrary to the Spring Festival, there are only 11 floats at the Autumn Festival. They are the beautiful wooden structures pictured above, which make thousands of people visit Takayama for this unique festival. They come out on the 9th of October and visitors can find the one that is called Hoteitai in the shrine’s main courtyard. The other ten wooden floats can be found on the walkway leading up to the shrine and in other areas of the city during both days of the festival.
- Karakuri Performance: during the Autumn Festival, the puppet show is performed on the Hoteitai float that is placed in front of the Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine. A beautiful story is told through the puppets that are controlled by very skilled puppeteers. This unique show happens twice a day on both days of the festival: once in the morning and once again in the afternoon.
- Night Festival (around 18.00): on the evening of October 9th, all 11 floats are taken around the city of Takayama to the sound of tunes that are very unique to Takayama and only played during the festival. Just like during the Spring Festival, this night event is the absolute highlight of the Autumn Festival as visitors can see the beautifully decorated floats parade the streets with hundreds of lanterns lighted up. At the end of it, all floats are returned to their storehouses, only to leave again next year for the Spring Festival.
This is just one of many beautiful festivals in Japan but if you can only choose some to put on your travel bucket list, make one of them the Takayama Festival. I can guarantee you that you will never forget the view of those wooden floats parading around the streets of this gorgeous city in rural Japan.
