Mie prefecture is home to many fascinating festivals. Here’s our list of the best of them.
Geita Festival
Held at dawn on New Year’s Day, this festival features men holding aloft white sun-shaped rings made from silverberry wood on bamboo poles.
Festival Season/Date: January 1
Festival Venue and Getting There: Kamijima-town, Toba-city. Forty-five minutes by boat from Sadahama Port in front of Toba station
Contact: Kamishima Fishing Cooperative. Tel: 0599-38-2211
Oshichiya
This event is a week-long memorial ceremony for the founders and benefactors of the Jodo-Shinshu sect of Buddhism. The national treasures kept at the temple are on public display during the festival.
Festival Season/Date: January 9-16
Festival Venue and Getting There: Takada Honzan Senshu-ji Temple, Ishinden, Tsu-city. Three minutes walk from JR Isshinda station Twenty minutes by bus from JR / Kintetsu Tsu station
Contact: City of Tsu Department of Commerce and Industry. Tel: 0592-26-1231
Yaya Festival
In this festival, held at Owase Shrine, virtually nude young men chant and walk through the streets.
Festival Season/Date: February 1-5
Festival Venue and Getting There: Central street, Owase-city. An eight-minute walk from JR Owase station
Contact: Owase Dept. of Commerce Industry and Tourism. Tel: 05972-3-8262
Spring Kagura Festival
Jingu Kagura is a dance performed as an offering to the gods. On these dates performances of are dedicated to national peace.
Festival Season/Date: April 5-6; three days in September during the Autumnal Equinox
Festival Venue and Getting There: Ise-Jingu, Ise-city (Inner and Outer Shrines). Outer Shrine: Ten-minute walk from Ise station Inner Shrine: Fifteen minutes by bus from Ise station to Naikumae bus stop
Contact: Ise Jingu Information Department. Tel: 0596-24-1111 Ise City Tourism Department. Tel: 0596-23-1111
Niu Taishi Festival
A festival honoring Kobo Daishi(774-835) the founder of the Shingon sect, of Buddhism. On these days, many people also pray for prosperity and the safety of their homes, and families.
Festival Season/Date: April 21; Oct. 21
Festival Venue and Getting There: Niu Taishi, Niusan Jingu-ji, Niu, Seiwa-village. Forty minutes by Oishi-bound bus from Matsuzaka station to Niu Taishi mae bus stop
Contact: Seiwa Village Department of Industry. Tel: 0598-49-4515
Iga Ueno Ninja Festa
A very colorful event featuring ninja dances, ninja floats, and other ninja-related attractions.
Festival Season/Date: From the end of March to the first Sunday in April
Festival Venue and Getting There: Ueno Cultural Center, Ueno Park, Ueno-city. Near Kintetsu Ueno station
Contact: Ueno Tourism Association. Tel: 0595-21-4111 Sakura(cherry blossom) Festivals (various locations) At the beginning of April, numerous cherry blossom viewing events are held throughout Mie prefecture
Tado Festival
This festival features ageumashiji, in which six young men on horseback attempt to jump to the top of a three-meter cliff.
Festival Season/Date: May 4-5
Festival Venue and Getting There: Tado Shrine, Tado, Tado-town, Kuwana-district. Twenty-minute walk from Kintetsu Tado station
Contact: Tado Shrine. Tel: 0594-48-2037 Tado Tourism Association. Tel: 0594-48-2702
Oshimenawa Harikae Shinji
A ceremony in which the ropes binding together the male rock and the female rock of Meotoiwa are changed.
Festival Season/Date: May 5; September 5; End of Dec.
Festival Venue and Getting There: Meoto iwa, Futami-town. Twenty-minute walk from JR Futamiura station
Contact: Futami Okitama Shrine. Tel: 05964-3-2020
Saio Festival
This festival held when the irises bloom, reenacts the ancient procession of the said to Ise from Kyoto.
Festival Season/Date: First weekend in June
Festival Venue and Getting There: Saiku Ruins, Meiwa-town. Near Kintetsu Saiku station
Contact: Meiwa Planning Department. Tel: 05965-2-7112
Ise-ebi Robster Festival
A festival of thanksgiving for the blessings of the sea, in which huge floats shaped like Ise- ebi Robster are pareded along the shore
Festival Season/Date: June 6
Festival Venue and Getting There: Oya Kaigan, Hamashima-town, Shima-district. Twenty-five minutes by bus from Kintetsu Ugata station and five-minute walk from the Hamashima bus stop.
Contact: Hamashima Department of Tourism and Industry. Tel: 05995-3-1111
Izawanomiya Rice Planting Festival
This festival is held at Izawanomiya, a shrine affiliated with Ise Grand Shrines, it features participants wearing costumes from the Heian Period (794-1192) who ritually plant rice.
Festival Season/Date: June 24
Festival Venue and Getting There: Uenosato, Isobe-town, Shima-district. Three-minute walk from Kintetsu Uenosato station
Contact: Isobe Tourism Planning Department. Tel: 05995-5-0026
Shirongo Festival
Female divers, known as ama, compete to harvest abalone from the ocean.
Festival Season/Date: July 11
Festival Venue and Getting There: Shirahige Shrine, Sugajima-town, Toba-city. Twenty minutes by municipal ferry from Toba station
Contact: Sugasima Fishing Cooperative. Tel: 0599-34-2211
Toro Festival
Lanterns ten to thirty meters long and huge firework displays serve as a backdrop for this performance of traditional Japanese folk songs.
Festival Season/Date: Last Saturday in July
Festival Venue and Getting There: Near Eno-wanguchi, Kii Nagashima-town, Kita murou-district. Twenty minute walk from JR Kii Nagashima station
Contact: Kii Nagashima Commerce and Industry Office. Tel: 05974-7-1111 Fureai Hiroba Mandoro. Tel: 05974-7-1081
Ise-Jingu National Fireworks Display
Fireworks specialists from around Japan launch over 9,000 fireworks into the night sky above the Miya River
Festival Season/Date: Last Saturday in July
Festival Venue and Getting There: Miyagawa river bank, Ise-city. Ten-minute walk from JR Yamada Kamiguchi station Twenty-minute walk from Kintetsu Miya-machi station
Contact: Ise Tourism Department. Tel: 0596-23-1111
Ishitori Festival
In this festival event, the loudest festival in Japan, all the citizens of the town ring bells and hit taiko drums while more than 30 floats parade around the city.
Festival Season/Date: First Sunday (and the preceding Sat.) in August
Festival Venue and Getting There: Near Kasuga Shrine, Honmachi, Kuwana-city. Ten-minute walk from JR/Kintetsu Kuwana station
Contact: Kasuga Shrine. Tel: 0594-22-1913
Grand Yokkaichi Festival
A colorful event featuring a parade with the famous onyudo float and traditional bon odori
Festival Season/Date: Three days, including the first Saturday and Sunday in August
Festival Venue and Getting There: Throughout Yokkaichi. Near JR and Kintetsu Yokkaichi stations
Contact: Yokkaichi Commerce and Tourism Department. Tel: 0593-54-8178
Kumano Grand Fireworks Display
Against the backdrop of Onigajo this fireworks exhibit over the open sea is the highlight of the summer in Kumano.
Festival Season/Date: August 17
Festival Venue and Getting There: Shichiri Mihama beach, Kimoto-town, Kumano-city. Five-minute walk from JR Kumano station
Contact: Kumano Tourism Association. Tel: 05978-9-0100. Kumano Commerce and Tourism Dept. Tel: 05978-9-4111.
Kagura Festival
“Kagura” is a dance performed as an offering to the gods, performed for national peace.
Festival Season/Date: April 5-6; three days in September during the autumnal Equinox
Festival Venue and Getting There: Ise-Jingu, Ise-city (Inner and Outer Shrines) Outer Shrine: Ten-minute walk from Ise station Inner Shrine: Fifteen minutes by bus from Ise station
Contact: Ise Jingu Information Department. Tel: 0596-24-1111 Ise City Tourism Department. Tel: 0596-23-1111
Anori Puppet Play
This puppet show performed at Anori shrine, has a history dating back to the 17th century.
Festival Season/Date: September 24-25
Festival Venue and Getting There: Anori Shrine, Anori, Ago-town. Twenty minutes by bus from Kintetsu Ugata station, and a fifteen-minute walk from Anori-guchi bus stop
Contact: Ago Commerce and Tourism Dept. Tel: 05994-3-0711 Ago Tourism Association. Tel: 05994-3-3975
Waraji Festival
A huge traditional straw sandal, three meters long and seventy kilograms in weight, is set to float on the ocean as an offering for good harvests, good catches, and safety at sea.
Festival Season/Date: Third Sunday in Sept.
Festival Venue and Getting There: Suba-no-Hama, Nakiri Shrine, Nakiri, Daio-town. Twenty minutes by bus from Kintetsu Ugata station to Nakiri, and a ten-minute walk.
Contact: Daio-town Tourism Association. Tel: 05997-2-0789
Yunoyama Spa Sohei Festival
A festival in honor of Jokun, who discovered of the Yunoyama hot spring and is famed as a just and courageous warrior-monk
Festival Season/Date: October 8 – 10
Festival Venue and Getting There: Throughout Yunoyama Spa. Eight minutes by bus from Kintetsu Yunoyama Onsen station to the Yunoyama Onsen stop
Contact: Yu-No-Yama Spa Association. Tel: 0593-92-2115
Ise Grand Festival
An autumn festival for the people of Ise, which coincides with the Kanname Festival at Ise Grand Shrines and includes folk dancing performed by local residents
Festival Season/Date: October (Sat. & Sun. before the Kanname-sai)
Festival Venue and Getting There: Ise city. Near JR Ise station or Kintetsu Uji-Yamada station
Contact: Ise Tourism Association. Tel: 0596-23-1111
Tsu Festival
An event with a history of 360 years, this festival features a grand parade, a folk-song parade, and a procession of people in period costumes.
Festival Season/Date: October 9-11
Festival Venue and Getting There: Throughout the city. Eight minutes by bus from JR/Kintetsu Tsu station to Mie Kaikan Ten-minute walk from Tsu Shinmachi station
Contact: Tsu Festival Committee. Tel: 0592-29-3170
Ueno Tenjin Autumn Festival
A 400-year old festival featuring a grand procession of elaborate portable shrines and nine danjiri floats
Festival Season/Date: October 23-25
Festival Venue and Getting There: Throughout Ueno city and at Sugawara shrine. Five-minute walk Kintetsu Ueno station
Contact: Ueno Tourism Association. Tel: 0595-21-4111
Ujisato Festival
A festival honoring Gamo Ujisato (1556-1596), the founder of Matsusaka, which includes procession of samurai near Matsusaka castle
Festival Season/Date: November 3
Festival Venue and Getting There: Matsusaka central shopping district and Matsusaka Park. Near Matsusaka station
Contact: Matsusaka Tourism Association. Tel: 0598-23-7771
Niiname Festival
In a ceremony dating back to ancient times, the first rice harvested during the current year is offered to the dieties of Ise Grand Shrines and then eaten
Festival Season/Date: November 23
Festival Venue and Getting There: Ise Jingu, Ise-city. Ten-minute walk from Kintetsu Ise station
Contact: Ise Jingu Office. Tel: 0596-24-1111
