Captivate Yourself
10 Cultural events & Festivals you will want to attend this summer!
Tenjin Matsuri Festival
Tenjin Matsuri Festival is one of the biggest cultural events in Japan and one of the biggest festivals in Osaka during summer.
It usually takes place between the 24th and 25th of July and thousands of people join the festivities. This festival is known to be a festival of water and light and is most likely a festival that celebrates Japanese Gods such as 'Otabisho'.
The highlight of the festival is the Hanabi-firework, it is the festivity where most of the people attend. The festival is also known for its decorated floats that are carried and parade all around the city, all of the floats are unique and have their own signification and decoration such as dragons, waterbirds and Japanese gods. The festival is originally held by the Osaka Tenmangu Shrine which and is an emblematic place in the Japanse religion, during the Tenjin Matsuri festival the shrine's god would travel all around its territory to visit his parishioners and make sure they are living with peace and health.
Otaeue Rice Planting Festival
This festival is originally called Oteaue Shinji and it takes place in mid-June.
it is a festival that is very important for locals as the rice is a central part of their culture. The festival has been taken place since year 211 and is now a tradition in Japanese culture.
The festival is also accompanied by a different kind of entertainment such as dancing and singing while planting the rice. It usually comes along with traditional Japanese instruments such as taiko drums.
During the festival, we can often see some samurai with the typical armor walking around. Finally, as the rice has a big place within the Japanese culture the ancient Shinto rituals take place when planting the rice as it would help the rice to grow and enhance its vitality.
Discover 'BUNRAKU'
Bunraku officially named ‘ Ningyo John Bunraku’ is an original type of entertainment that is close to Theatre but with Japanese puppet. It takes place at the National Bunraku theatre in Osaka.
The puppet are usually half-size dolls that act out on ‘ Jōruri’ which is a chanted dramatic narrative. You do not need to understand Japanese to understand it as it is based on rhythmic chanting, visuals and sounds only. Bunraku is one of the most famous attraction in Osaka when it comes to entertainment for travelers. The term ‘Bunraku’ comes from the name of a theatrical troupe back in the 19th century. In terms of prices for a reserved seat is 3,900 yen and they also have prices for students.
Sumiyoshi Festival
Sumiyoshi festival usually takes place on the 30th of July and it marked the end of the festival seasons in Osaka.
The main goal of this festival is to purify the heart by praying and it is going for the three days of the festival. One of the main characteristics of the Sumioyoshi festival is that the women and the children dress up as if they were in an another era: Muromachi. It is a great a way to discover the different type of clothing in Japan during the festival.
The festival is also famous for bringing joy and entertainment to the public , on the last day of the festival a parade takes place with a large number of tanks all recovered with decoration. The Sumiyoshi Festival is also located next to the Sumiyoshi Shrine which is the third oldest shrine in Japan. To celebrate the end of the season, the festival host a large range of fireworks which attracts a lot of travelers on that period of time.
KISHIWADA DANJIRI MATSURI
Kishiwada Danjiri festival has been celebrated since 1703 and its purpose was and is still is to ask the gods for healthy and abundant harvests. One of the main attraction and surprising is to see the participants running in the streets of Osaka while pushing a ‘Yari-mawashi’ which is basically a very heavy tank at a fast rate.
Sometimes this festival is described as ‘violent’ because of the tanks parade and how they are pushed all over the city and the buildings of Osaka. The tanks are the main part of the festival and we can see the artisans on top of their tanks jumping and dancing. Kishiwada Danjiri Matusri is known to be a tiring festival for the participants so after a few hours the festival-goer stop parading in the city and hang multiples lanterns on their tanks before going for drinks and food and end the night together.
NANIWA YODOGAWA
This festival was born in the Heisei era and it is known as summer and fireworks festival. it takes place on the first day of august. In Osaka it is a tradition to do have a ‘Midsummer night’s dream’ where the city has to be light up with many types of lights. It is a free event and very easy to access for any travelers and a local way to meet people from Osaka. During the whole night you can hear loud noise and see the sky being light up by many different type of fireworks. It is financed through different donations from local companies and anyone can jump on the project and help volunteer.
SuperSonic 2020: Osaka
This rock festival event is now renamed as ‘SuperSonic’ and is taking place every summer in Tokyo and Osaka. However due to the circumstances, the festival will not take place during the same period of time but in September. The performances takes place at Maishima Sonic Park that can be access via a bus from Cosmosquare Station. Supersonic attracts many visitors and tourist as the lineup of the band are usually very variated and known all over the world. The festival also hosts many Japanese bands, it is a great way to meet travelers and local people as well. The price ranging is from 13,800 Yen to 39,000 Yen and the tickets take the form of wristbands so you don’t loose it while dancing!
The Hozenji Yokocho
The Hozenji Yokocho festival takes part every year around the 10th and 11th May (dates may range) in Osaka/Naniwa’s Minami district. Festivities, food stalls and puppet shows, called the “Bunraku” are among some of the attractions travellers can enjoy near the famous Hozenji Temple, also knowns as the Mizukake Fudo Temple, with some of the local’s handmade nigh stalls sometimes lining the inside of the temple.
The festival was started in 1982 to commemorate the revival of stone pavements by the Nankai Railway at Yokocho, after the roads had previously been made with asphalt.
Aizen Festival
The Aizen Matsuri festival is one of the oldest summer festival in Japan, it started 1,400 years ago, it takes place on the 30th of June - 2 of July. Its main characteristics is the ‘Hoekago’ Parade that takes place on the 30t of June, during that parade all the women are dressed in a traditional Japanese outfit ‘Yukata’ which is a light Kimono. On each of the three days of the festival the first visitors that will arrive wearing the ‘Yukata’ will be given prayer-bead bracelets.
during the parade there are many floats with food truck, games to play and music blasting.
There is also another important part of the Aizen Matsuri festival which is ‘Nagoshi no Harae Festival’ where people go to shrines and pray for health and well-being for the rest of the year. The festival is also a huge opportunity for people to go inside the ‘Aizen-san’s pagoda’ are it is only allowed on the festival. However the festival really takes off at night with many visitor joining to try food and play games.
Daimonji Gozan Okuribi
This event is based in Kyoto but it is worth the journey , it takes place on the 16th of August. the event consist in burning ‘letters’ on the Daimonji hills. The famous letter is the ‘dai’(大) which will only be burn on the Daimonji at 8 at a night and then the other letters Myô (妙) et Hô (法) will be the next ones to be burn but in the North go Kyoto. In the end this event takes place all around Kyoto on different mounts, it is worth the view as it is spectaculaire as the letters will form the amazing teaching and leaning of Buddha.