Japanese festivals - Delving Deep into the Country’s Colourful Attractions

Festivals acquire a dominant position in the Japanese calendar; the locals are always in the mood to rejoice and to celebrate such extensive festivities popularly referred to as “Masturi” by the natives. Taking place round the year, the Japanese festivals are popularly linked with neighbourhood shrines; however there are also the ones that mark Japanese sentiments, cultural values and more. The countrywide events majorly include business and bank holidays, national holidays and those that are honoured as part of the Japanese customs.

New Year in Japan starts with a holiday mood. The locals here conduct parties to rejoice the partying mood; while enjoying the short vacation, the natives try to forget the regrets and the worst memories of the year that comes to an end. It all starts with partying on the New Year‘s Eve.

The Japanese natives indulge into eating soba noodles that are consumed for prosperity. With the onset of the year, the natives clean their homes and decorate the interiors as well as the exteriors with branches of the plum and pine tree. They even use bamboo to add to the excellence.

Since Japan is flooded with events, it is not quite easy to select and attend festivals from an entire range. The festive occasions generally encompass dancing festivals, fire festivals, religious festivals, snow festivals, naked festivals, music festivals and so on and so forth.

Sapporo Yuki Matsuri

The snow festival is massively eye-catching. Spanning for a week, the event marks sculpting figures and architecture from snow and ice. Thousands or may be millions of spectators visit Japan to witness the spectacle.

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Aoi Matsuri

One of the oldest festivals of Japan, the celebration marks a long procession where participants wear aristocratic fashion trend of ancient Japan.

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Domannaka Matsuri

Celebrated in Nagoya, the dance festival entails dancers from varied regions of Japan to reveal their local traditions through dancing techniques.

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Takayama Matsuri

Held during spring and autumn, the festival is celebrated in the Gifu prefecture across the beautiful town of Takayama. The celebration feature long processions, tall and colourful floats adorning Karakuri Ningyo (mechanical puppets of Japanese origin).

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Shinkawa Matsuri in Ube

As per the Japanese tradition, foxes are honoured as Shinto Gods. According to the Japanese mythology, foxes trick humans to marry them. The Shinkawa Matsuri marks the wedding of foxes.

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Omitzutori

One of the most celebrated occasions of historic importance in Japan, the Omitzutori festival entails lighting of giant torches at the Todaji temple.

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Nagasaki Kunchi

Among the diverse festivals in Japan, the Nagasaki Kunchi deserves special mention. It features Dragon dancing performed by a team of dancers. The dancing techniques adopted by the performers usually reveal influence of the Chinese culture.

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