Traditional Japanese festivals, known as matsuri , are at their essence local parties often held on significant dates of the Shinto or Buddhist calendars. Participating in matsuri is the best way to understand local customs and traditions!
Sunrise Tours offers special matsuri packages to help you join the fun, including the following major matsuri held this fall.

September 16th, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine Festival

Located in Kamakura, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu is one of Japan's best-known shrines. Kamakura is a famous historical city with an abundance of ancient temples and shrines, and it's also home to a gigantic statue of Buddha. The Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine Festival features an exciting yabusame ceremony, in which archers in traditional costume shoot arrows at stationary targets while galloping by on horseback.

September 23rd, Ohara Hadaka Festival

The Ohara Hadaka Festival is held in the Pacific coast town of Ohara in Chiba Prefecture. Dating from the Edo Era, the festival celebrates bumper crops and a successful fishing season. Hadaka means “naked,” and as hinted by the name, the main event is a large group of young men wearing nothing but loincloths battle each other in a vigorous competition to carrying portable shrines ( mikoshi ) into the sea !

October 19th, Kawagoe Festival

Kawagoe flourished in the Edo Period as a castle town, and it is popularly known as a "Ko-Edo," or "Little Edo" ("Edo" refers to the former name of Tokyo) for the large number of traditional warehouses and buildings preserved in their original state. The Kawagoe Festival celebrates the city's 350-year history and features a parade of floats passing through the streets. When a float from one neighborhood passes by a float from another, the two will face each other and perform festival music.

November 3rd, Hakone Daimyo Gyoretsu

Hakone is a hot spring resort in Kanagawa Prefecture that is popular with tourists. The Daimyo Gyoretsu recreates the procession of a feudal entourage as it passed through Hakone Checkpoint during the Edo Period. A total of 170 people dress up as samurai warriors and princesses to parade over a distance of 6 km.