{"id":1490,"date":"2026-10-17T10:13:59","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T10:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thejapanpro.com\/blog\/?p=1490"},"modified":"2026-10-22T16:46:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T16:46:53","slug":"japanese-festival-calendar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thejapanpro.com\/blog\/it\/japanese-festival-calendar\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Festival Calendar 2026\u201327: Every Major Matsuri, All Year, by Prefecture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Japan holds thousands of matsuri every year, but only a few dozen are worth building a trip around. This Japanese festival calendar<\/strong> lists 65 of them, all year round, from Sapporo’s snow sculptures and Nara’s burning hillside to Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri and Tokushima’s Awa Odori, with the exact 2026\u201327 date for each and whether that date is confirmed or only expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every festival card gives the nearest station, whether it is free to watch, the price of paid seats where they exist, the official site and one tip that makes the day easier. We checked each entry against the organiser’s own site on 17 October 2026: 43 dates are confirmed, and the rest are marked as expected or to be announced.<\/p>\n\n\n

65<\/p>

Festivals listed<\/p><\/div>

32<\/p>

Prefectures covered<\/p><\/div>

61 of 65<\/p>

Free to watch<\/p><\/div>

Oct \u2013 Sep<\/p>

A full year of dates<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Japanese festival dates that changed for 2026\u201327<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most festival calendars online copy last year’s dates. These are the changes that will catch you out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n