Owara Kaze no Bon
A night-time Bon dance tradition in Yatsuo, known for elegant processions through old streets.
It gives September coverage a living seasonal threshold between summer heat, wind, music, and early-autumn travel.
Events
September-December events in Japan
Browse a starter index of festivals, observances, tournaments, and winter markets across Japan. Each listing links to an official organizer, public tourism body, or public agency source before it becomes a full Almanac story.
21source-backed listings
4months mapped
2026dates checked September 1, 2026
Use this as an editorial map, not a complete national events database. Fixed annual dates and announced 2026 schedules can still change because of weather, crowd control, shrine decisions, or organizer updates; check the linked source before travel.
Chrysanthemum
September
Late-summer heat gives way to Bon dances, shrine rites, food markets, and the first clear autumn nights.
Sapporo Autumn Fest
A large outdoor food festival gathering Hokkaido produce, regional dishes, sake, wine, and sweets in central Sapporo.
It anchors a northern food-and-harvest lane for readers following autumn through the calendar.
Grand Sumo September Tournament
The autumn Tokyo honbasho returns to Ryogoku Kokugikan for fifteen days of professional sumo.
It broadens the September index beyond festivals into a major recurring cultural calendar event.
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Reitaisai
Kamakura's major shrine festival combines processions, ritual performance, portable shrines, and yabusame horseback archery.
It connects September stories to samurai-era Kamakura and to ritual movement through shrine space.
Kishiwada Danjiri Festival
Teams pull large danjiri floats at speed through Kishiwada's streets in one of Osaka's best-known autumn festivals.
It adds kinetic street spectacle to the September map and gives the index a Kansai anchor.
Maple
October
Festival calendars turn theatrical, with float processions, period parades, fire rites, and harvest celebrations.
Sapporo Autumn Fest
A large outdoor food festival gathering Hokkaido produce, regional dishes, sake, wine, and sweets in central Sapporo.
It anchors a northern food-and-harvest lane for readers following autumn through the calendar.
Nagasaki Kunchi
Nagasaki's Suwa Shrine festival is known for neighborhood performances and the city's long history of overseas exchange.
It gives October coverage a port-city festival with distinctive international layers.
Takayama Autumn Festival
A harvest-season shrine festival with ornate yatai floats, evening lantern displays, and old-town processions.
It links October's maple month to craft, mountain-town streets, and festival float culture.
Kishiwada October Danjiri Festival
A second Kishiwada danjiri weekend extends the city's float calendar into October.
It helps readers distinguish the September and October Danjiri schedules before making travel plans.
Kawagoe Festival
A historic festival of dashi floats and musical face-offs rooted in Hikawa Shrine's annual rites.
It gives October readers an accessible Kanto float festival with strong Edo-period city texture.
Jidai Matsuri
Kyoto's Festival of the Ages stages a long procession of historical costumes and imperial-city memory.
It provides a direct bridge between seasonal travel, public history, and Kyoto's civic festival calendar.
Kurama Fire Festival
A night fire rite in Kyoto's northern mountains, with torch processions honoring Yuki-jinja Shrine.
It pairs naturally with Jidai Matsuri on the same date while showing a very different Kyoto atmosphere after dark.
Willow
November
Autumn travel overlaps with family shrine visits, regional processions, Kyushu festivals, and the Fukuoka sumo tournament.
Karatsu Kunchi
Karatsu's autumn shrine festival sends large hikiyama floats through the city over three days.
It extends the October kunchi thread into November and gives Kyushu coverage a vivid craft-and-procession anchor.
Ohara Festival
Kagoshima's central autumn festival fills Tenmonkan with large-scale group dancing and regional music.
It adds a southern Kyushu city festival to the November map and balances shrine processions with participatory dance.
Hakone Daimyo Gyoretsu
A daimyo procession moves through Hakone Yumoto with period costumes, attendants, and Edo-road pageantry.
It gives November coverage a clear Tokaido-road story that pairs well with autumn Hakone travel.
Grand Sumo November Tournament
Professional sumo closes its annual grand-tournament circuit in Fukuoka.
It gives November a national sporting spine and adds another Kyushu anchor to the index.
Shichi-Go-San
Families mark the growth of children aged three, five, and seven with shrine visits and seasonal dress.
It brings November's public calendar back to family ritual, childhood, clothing, and shrine photography.
Paulownia
December
The year closes with winter night festivals, old markets, shrine rites, lucky-bat fairs, and New Year's Eve customs.
Chichibu Night Festival
One of Japan's major float festivals, known for ornate floats, winter-night atmosphere, and fireworks on December 3.
It gives December a dramatic opening and a strong transition from autumn festivals into winter rites.
Kasuga Wakamiya On-Matsuri
A nearly 900-year-old Nara festival centered on Kasuga Taisha, with a major period procession on December 17.
It adds deep historical continuity to December and links winter shrine rites to Nara's old capital landscape.
Setagaya Boroichi
A centuries-old winter market in Setagaya with hundreds of stalls selling antiques, clothing, food, and household goods.
It gives the December index an urban market story that carries naturally into the New Year.
Hagoita-Ichi
Asakusa's decorative battledore market fills Sensoji with lucky hagoita boards before the New Year.
It connects December's closing days to material culture, luck, Edo craft, and New Year preparations.
Oga no Namahage
Masked Namahage figures visit homes around the Oga Peninsula on New Year's Eve in a UNESCO-recognized folk tradition.
It gives December's final night a powerful threshold ritual and a northern winter endpoint for the index.