LONELY PLANET
 
Location: Otori shrines, Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan
Dates: Every 12 days in November
Level of participation: 2 – buy a rake for luck
Taking place on the Days of the Rooster (according to the Chinese zodiac), this event normally happens twice a year. In the occasional years when it occu...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
The laughing festival in Wakayama
When you go to a festival at a remote village and you are the only foreigner, it tells you something about how local and traditional it is. Going to Warai Festival has probably been one of most spectacular and rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. It ...

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JAPAN TIMES
 
Press conferences are usually upbeat affairs, but at the one held to herald Festival/Tokyo — a two-month theater festival that kicks off Oct. 15 — Artistic Director Sachio Ichimura appears looking worried and begins proceedings by bemoaning the event’s financial situation and wonder...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
A heartwarming display of designer fireworks in Aichi
Fireworks Festivals or Hanabi-kai are some of the most spectacular festivals in Japan. Put on mostly during summer time, the multicolor fireworks light up the sky in many decorative ways. Okazaki is one of those places, and hosts ...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
 
One of the Top Three Most Beautiful Festivals in Japan
In the spring and autumn, Takayama hosts one of Japan's most famous festivals. I was lucky enough in October 2012 to explore the fall festival; watching the night parade as the festival floats went by me, lit up by candles, pap...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
A modern festival with plenty of tradition
 
Kashiwa Matsuri is a huge festival in Kashiwa, Chiba prefecture. Reachable from Tokyo in under an hour, it attracts thousands of attendees every year on the last weekend of July. Taking place from 1pm to past 8pm, it is an energetic and ch...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
Learn more about Japanese festivals in Akita
In the small city of Akita, there is a very interesting museum. It is called the Kanto Festival Centre and it offers plenty of information regarding festivals in Akita Province. Anyone who has ever attended any Japanese festival knows too ...

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JNTO
 
The Nebuta Matsuri is a breathtaking and unique festival celebrated in the northern prefecture of Aomori. Held once a year, it features gorgeous, vivid floats shaped after famous historical and mythological Japanese characters. Often hailed as the most colorful festival in Japan, the Nebut...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
The First of Yanagawa's Many Doll Festival Events
The Doll Festival (or Girls' Day) may only be officially celebrated on March 3, but the canal city of Yanagawa in southern Fukuoka Prefecture devotes an entire two months to this colorful tradition. 
 
The events are kicked off annual...

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AJW ASAHI
A record number of anime fans descended upon the third installment of the Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair (KYOMAF) on Sept. 20-21.
 
A total of 40,576 enthusiasts turned up at two venues in Japan's ancient capital, organizers said, surpassing the 40,000 mark for the first time.
 
T...

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