Tohoku’s Six Major Summer Festivals and Festivals Around Shirakami-Sanchi
Summer is when Tohoku comes alive with festivals.
From giant illuminated floats and towering lanterns to colorful decorations and powerful drums, the region’s major festivals fill city streets with music, movement, and energy.
Among them are six festivals that have become especially well known across Japan: Aomori Nebuta, Akita Kanto, Morioka Sansa Odori, Sendai Tanabata, Yamagata Hanagasa, and Fukushima Waraji.
But there is another side to Tohoku’s festival season.
Around Shirakami-Sanchi, you can find local festivals that are closely connected to the area’s communities, shrines, landscapes, and traditions.
Here are some of the festivals to know when planning a summer trip through Tohoku.
The Six Major Summer Festivals of Tohoku
Aomori Nebuta Festival
When: August 2–7
Where: Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture
Best for: Giant illuminated floats and lively street parades
Don’t miss: The nighttime parade and the August 7 harbor procession.
Few Japanese festivals are as visually striking as Aomori Nebuta.
The highlight is the huge Nebuta floats that move through the streets of Aomori at night. The brightly lit figures often depict warriors, historical characters, and scenes from traditional stories.
Dancers called haneto jump and dance alongside the floats to the sound of drums, flutes, and festival music.
The festival reaches its finale on August 7, when selected Nebuta floats are carried through Aomori Bay while fireworks light up the sky.
The festival is held every year from August 2 to 7 and is one of the most famous summer festivals in Japan.
Akita Kanto Festival
When: August 3–6
Where: Akita City, Akita Prefecture
Best for: Spectacular lantern balancing
Don’t miss: The moment performers raise the lantern poles high above the crowd.
At the Akita Kanto Festival, the night sky fills with what look like glowing golden rice plants.
The Kanto are long bamboo poles carrying rows of lanterns. The largest, called Owaka, can reach about 12 meters in length and weigh around 50 kilograms.
Performers balance them on their hands, shoulders, foreheads, and hips, showing remarkable strength and control.
The Kanto are shaped to represent rice plants and are connected with prayers for a good harvest. This gives the spectacular performance a deeper connection to Akita’s agricultural traditions.
Morioka Sansa Odori
When: August 1–4
Where: Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture
Best for: Drums, dancing, and joining in
Don’t miss: The final day’s large drum parade and the chance to dance with local participants.
Morioka Sansa Odori fills the streets with the sound of taiko drums.
The festival is connected with the Mitsuishi Legend, a local story about an oni, or demon, who once troubled the people of Morioka. According to the legend, the demon promised never to cause trouble again after being defeated by the deity of Mitsuishi Shrine.
Today, the festival features large groups of dancers and drummers moving along the main parade route.
One of its most welcoming features is the Wa-odori, a circle dance that visitors can join.
Yamagata Hanagasa Festival
When: August 5–7
Where: Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture
Best for: Dancing and colorful flower hats
Don’t miss: The sea of flower hats moving through the city at night.
“Yassho, Makasho!”
The call of the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival echoes through the streets as dancers move to the rhythm of taiko drums. The dancers carry hanagasa hats decorated with red flowers, inspired by Yamagata’s famous safflower.
The modern festival began in 1963 as part of the Zao Summer Festival. It became an independent festival in 1965 and has since grown into one of Tohoku’s best-known summer celebrations.
The parade takes place along the main streets of central Yamagata, and visitors can join the dancing during the final part of the parade.
Sendai Tanabata Festival
When: August 6–8
Where: Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture
Best for: Traditional decorations and a more relaxed festival atmosphere
Don’t miss: Walking beneath the huge handmade bamboo decorations in the city center.
The Sendai Tanabata Festival looks very different from the other major Tohoku festivals. Instead of giant floats or large groups of dancers, the city is filled with enormous bamboo decorations covered in colorful paper ornaments.
The festival dates back to the time of Date Masamune, the founder of the Sendai domain. Today, the main decorations line the shopping arcades around Sendai Station and central Sendai.
The festival is held from August 6 to 8, about one month later than the traditional July 7 Tanabata date, preserving the seasonal timing of the old calendar.
Fukushima Waraji Festival
When: First Friday–Sunday of August
Where: Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture
Best for: A giant straw sandal and energetic dancing
Don’t miss: The giant waraji moving through the city and the energetic Waraji Odori.
A 12-meter-long straw sandal is the unmistakable symbol of the Fukushima Waraji Festival.
The festival is connected to Akatsuki Mairi, a winter religious tradition at Haguro Shrine on Mt. Shinobu that has continued for more than 400 years. Straw sandals were traditionally offered to pray for strong legs and safe journeys.
The summer festival developed as a celebration in which the other sandal is offered.
Today, the giant waraji is carried through the streets of Fukushima along with powerful drumming and dancing. The festival was renewed in 2019, updating its music and dance while keeping its connection to the city’s traditions.
Festivals Around Shirakami-Sanchi
The six major festivals show the spectacular scale of Tohoku’s festival season. But if you travel north toward Shirakami-Sanchi, you can experience another side of the region.
Here, festivals are often smaller in scale and more closely connected with local shrines, communities, the sea, and the surrounding landscape.
These events offer a chance to see traditions that are part of everyday local life.
Tenku no Fuyajo
When: August 2–3
Where: Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture
Best for: Giant lantern floats and a dramatic nighttime parade
Don’t miss: Seeing the giant lantern floats illuminated against the night sky.
In Noshiro, summer begins with a spectacular sight: enormous castle-shaped lantern floats moving through the city at night.
Tenku no Fuyajo, meaning “Castle in the Sky at Night,” was revived in its modern form after old photographs revealed the city’s historic giant lantern tradition.
Today, the festival features two enormous floats, including the 24.1-meter-tall Chikasue float.
The timing is especially interesting for travelers. The festival begins on August 2, the same day that Aomori Nebuta starts, making Noshiro a natural stop for travelers exploring Tohoku’s festival season.
Noshiro Fireworks
When: July
Where: Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture
Best for: Fireworks by the Sea of Japan
Don’t miss: The combination of a seaside sunset, open sky, and fireworks.
Before the major August festivals begin, Noshiro Fireworks brings summer to life along the waterfront.
Held at Noshiro Port, the event combines the open landscape of the coast with a large fireworks display. The 2026 event featured around 15,000 fireworks, including large shells and wide-format displays.
It offers a very different experience from the street festivals: instead of following a parade through a city center, visitors can watch the night sky open above the Sea of Japan.
Shirataki Shrine Mikoshi no Takiabi
When: August 1
Where: Happo Town, Akita Prefecture
Best for: A shrine festival unlike almost anything else
Don’t miss: The moment the mikoshi enters the waterfall basin.
At the Shirataki Shrine Mikoshi no Takiabi, the festival’s mikoshi takes an unexpected route.
After being carried through the local community, the mikoshi is taken into the waterfall basin behind Shirataki Shrine.
Men dressed in white traditional clothing carry the mikoshi into the water as part of the shrine ritual. The event is closely connected with prayers for good harvests, safe voyages, and prosperity.
The waterfall and shrine are located close together, making this a particularly striking example of how local traditions can be closely tied to the natural landscape.
Fujikoto Hosaku Odori
When: September 7–8
Where: Fujisato Town, Akita Prefecture
Best for: Traditional dance and a historic procession
Don’t miss: The historic procession and the horse dances.
At the foot of Shirakami-Sanchi, Fujikoto Hosaku Odori offers a glimpse into a much older tradition.
The dance is said to have roots dating back around 400 years, to the time when the Satake clan moved from Mito to Akita. It is traditionally performed as part of the Fujikoto Sengen Shrine festival.
The performers form a procession inspired by a feudal lord’s procession, with groups representing spearmen, archers, horses, lions, and musicians.
Held in early September, it is slightly later than the main summer festival season, but it is an important part of the traditional festival calendar around Shirakami-Sanchi.
Mitane Sandcraft
When: Late July
Where: Kamayahama Beach, Mitane Town, Akita Prefecture
Best for: Sand sculptures, the beach, and fireworks
Don’t miss: Seeing the sand sculptures during the day, then staying for the sunset and fireworks.
At Mitane Sandcraft, the beach itself becomes an art gallery.
Large sand sculptures are created at Kamayahama Beach, a scenic stretch of coast on the Sea of Japan. The event combines sand art with music, local activities, and a fireworks show after sunset.
The beach is also one of Japan’s 100 Selected Best Beaches for Swimming, making this an easy festival to combine with a day by the sea.
Unlike the traditional shrine festivals elsewhere in the region, Mitane Sandcraft is a modern event. Yet it shares something important with the area’s other festivals: it brings people together around a distinctive local landscape.
From Major Festivals to Local Traditions
The six major festivals show one side of Tohoku: huge crowds, spectacular performances, and traditions known throughout Japan.
The festivals around Shirakami-Sanchi offer another.
Here, the scale may be smaller, but the connection between people, local traditions, shrines, and the landscape is often much closer.
That contrast makes it possible to build a very different kind of festival trip—one that combines famous Tohoku festivals with the quieter experiences of the Shirakami region.
Next: Plan a Tohoku Summer Festival Journey from Aomori to Shirakami-Sanchi and Akita