Visit Japan Web Takayama Festival
Visit Japan Web invites you to explore the Takayama Festival, one of Japan’s three most exquisite festivals. It takes place biannually in the old town of Takayama during spring and autumn, drawing a large number of spectators.
The Spring Festival (April 14th-15th) is the yearly celebration of the Hie Shrine in the southern part of Takayama’s old town. Due to the shrine’s title as Sanno-sama, the spring festival is also known as Sanno Festival. Similarly, the Autumn Festival (October 9th-10th) is the annual festival of the Hachiman Shrine in the northern half of the old town. It is also known as Hachiman Festival.
During both festival days, the festival floats are exhibited in the streets of Takayama from morning to late afternoon. In the event of inclement weather, the floats are kept in their storehouses. But the doors are opened for visitors to view.
On the evening of the first day, the festival floats are paraded through the streets of Takayama’s old town for approximately two to three hours. Many visitors consider the evening festival to be the highlight of the festival. In the event of poor weather, the evening festival may be cancelled.
The Takayama Festival is a highly popular event, attracting several hundred thousand people from across Japan and around the world. It becomes particularly crowded if one or both festival days coincide with a weekend or national holiday. Consequently, hotels in Takayama are fully booked months in advance. It is advisable to make hotel reservations as early as possible. Neighboring towns such as Furukawa and Gero Onsen can also serve as a base for experiencing the festival. But traveling further than that may make it challenging to attend the evening festival.
