Toyohashi Fire Festival: Things are about to go off!
Aug 29, 2018 By Bert Wishart
While there are many, many fireworks festivals in Japan throughout the summer months, there are very few that match Toyohashi's Hono-no-Saiten for sheer spectacle. And danger. About Hono-no-Saiten The Hono-no-Saiten festival started in 1996 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of Toyohashi City and has been an annual...[ Click to read more ]
Full Moon Tea Ceremony at Shukkei-en in Hiroshima
Aug 28, 2018 By Matt Mangham
Tsukimi, or Moon Viewing, is a Japanese tradition going back to the Heian period, when portions of the old Chinese mid-Autumn festivals blended with local practices to create one more reason for the aristocracy of Kyoto to stay up all night. The classic portrayal of the Heian Moon Viewing Party...[ Click to read more ]
Summer Evening of Prayer and Peace in Hiroshima
Jul 30, 2018 By Matt Mangham
Let’s say you arrive in Hiroshima for the August 6th Peace Memorial Ceremony a day early. You don’t feel like sitting around the hotel room watching TV, but what feels right to do the night before attending the anniversary of the A-Bombing of this lovely little city. Anyway, it’s Sunday...[ Click to read more ]
Hiroshima International Animation Festival 2018
By Matt Mangham
Both of my daughters have attended and enjoyed this wonderful local film festival for their entire lives. If you’re living in Hiroshima, or are lucky enough to be passing through town between the August 23 and 27, you have to make time in your schedule to drop by, if only...[ Click to read more ]
Understanding Japan: What is Obon?
By Bert Wishart
For many foreigners working in Japan, Obon is a great time, as most companies close for a bit of a summer holiday; it gives us a chance to hit the beach, travel, or just hang out at home glued to the air conditioner. In fact, many Japanese see it as...[ Click to read more ]
Getting to Know You: Nagoya’s Endoji Street
By Bert Wishart
For so long the area of Osu has been considered Nagoya's district of cool, but for those in the know, it is Endoji, a stone's throw from Meieki, that is becoming the place where all the good stuff is going on. On the face of it, Endoji looks like any...[ Click to read more ]
Aomori Prefecture’s Nebuta Festival
By Bert Wishart
Throughout July and August there are festivals all over Japan celebrating all manner of things - from the literal star-crossed lovers of Tanabata to the returning of deceased ancestors at Obon. However, for the citizens of Aomori Prefecture, August is a time to celebrate warriors of the past. 'Nebuta' festivals,...[ Click to read more ]
Bon Odori Dancing Festivals in Tokyo
Jul 27, 2018 By Jason Gatewood
Obon is an annual event where Buddhists and Confucians celebrate their ancestors. Buddhists and many Japanese people in general believe that every year during Obon their ancestor's spirits will return from "beyond the grave" for three days to visit with relatives they left behind. The highlight of summer in Japan is...[ Click to read more ]
Buying Summer Yukata in Nagoya
By Bert Wishart
If you have been to any of this summer's fireworks festivals around Nagoya and Aichi you may have noticed many people wearing traditional Japanese dress and wondered what was going on. Well, summer festivals are a time when Japanese and foreigners alike can wear yukata, a summer and informal variant...[ Click to read more ]
Celebrate Bon Odori By the Kobe Seaside
Jul 25, 2018 By Justin Hanus
Bon Odori festivals are well known as an entertaining and interesting summer events across Japan, and Kobe’s seaside fest is no exception. Bon Odori, or simply Bon dances, are some of the most exciting open-air parties that Japan offers, and they’re fun for all ages! Since the Obon holiday is...[ Click to read more ]
