Guides · Wed 04 Nov 2026
Japan's 2027 food and drink festivals, prefecture by prefecture: oysters and new sake
From winter into spring, Japan's food calendar works its hardest: oysters in season and freshly pressed new sake. From Jojima in February to Roppongi in April, set out prefecture by prefecture.
From winter into spring, Japan's calendar fills with food. Oysters firm up and reach their best, and the sake breweries release their freshly pressed new sake one after another. On this site, readers have been gathering on our pages for the Jojima brewery opening and for the Hinase and Miyajima oyster festivals as the season approaches. So here is the first half of 2027, laid out prefecture by prefecture, in an order you can use as it stands to plan a weekend trip.
Fukuoka: Jojima Sakagura Biraki (13 and 14 February)
Jojima and Mizuma, in Kurume City, are sake country known across Japan, blessed with water from the Chikugo River and rice from the Chikugo Plain. The 33rd Jojima Sakagura Biraki runs on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 February, at Jojima Chomin no Mori and at the breweries that open their doors. The heart of the festival is tasting each brewery's proud new sake in one round; the previous edition, the 32nd, ran from 9:30 to 16:00. A day trip from Fukuoka City, changing between Nishitetsu trains and buses, is possible, but this is new sake worth lingering over: stay a night in Kurume or Fukuoka and take the breweries slowly.
Details are on our Jojima Sakagura Biraki event page.
Hiroshima: Miyajima Oyster Festival (second Saturday and Sunday of February, 2027 not announced)
The oyster festival in the plaza in front of Miyajima pier is held right where you step off the ferry. Oyster dote nabe hotpot and fried oysters line up at about 100 to 200 yen (about US$1) in a typical year. In a normal year it falls on the second Saturday and Sunday of February, which in 2027 would be 13 and 14 February.
Honestly, though: the 2026 oyster festival was cancelled because the oysters grew poorly. The 2027 edition has not been announced by the Miyajima Tourist Association at this point. If you are thinking of going, waiting for the announcement is the sure course. We will update this page as soon as it appears. Miyajima itself is famous oyster country, and even without the festival the island's restaurants serve oysters in season.
Our listing is the Miyajima Oyster Festival event page.
Okayama: Hinase Oyster Festival (21 February)
Hinase, in Bizen City, is an oyster port on the Seto Inland Sea. The festival centres on Gomi no Ichi, the direct sales market of the Hinase Town fisheries cooperative. Grilled oysters, fried oysters, oyster soup: the whole ground is given over to oysters. Do not miss the local speciality, kakioko, okonomiyaki filled with oysters.
Hinase's oysters suffered a mass die-off last season. This season, though, the landings have started well, and oysters in the shell have been on sale at Gomi no Ichi since 1 November. This festival is a comeback season. Our listing gives the date as Sunday 21 February.
Details are on our Hinase Oyster Festival event page.
Niigata: Niigata Sake no Jin (13 and 14 March)
In March the lead role passes to sake. Niigata Sake no Jin is held at Wave Market in Toki Messe, on Bandai Island. Breweries from across the prefecture gather in one place: this is Niigata's sake showcase. Rice country Niigata has one of the largest counts of breweries in Japan, and a comparative tasting shows a breadth well beyond the light, dry style alone. Bandai Island is within bus or walking distance of Niigata Station.
Details are on our Niigata Sake no Jin event page.
Saga: Kashima Sakagura Tourism and the Hizen Hamashuku Flowers and Sake Festival (27 and 28 March)
A weekend when the breweries of Kashima and Ureshino open all at once. In Kashima, five breweries take part, headed by Fukuchiyo, maker of Nabeshima, and the centre of the festival is the preserved district of Hizen Hamashuku, known as Sakagura Street. You tour the breweries on foot through white-walled streets. Three Ureshino breweries join in, under a banner of flowers and sake: a springlike festival. Saga's sake is highly rated as a sake for food, and pairing it with local dishes is part of the fun.
Details are on our Kashima Sakagura Tourism event page.
Hyogo: Nada Sakagura Tanbou (on now, until 28 February)
The Nada Gogo, the five districts of Nishigo, Mikage, Uozaki, Nishinomiya and Imazu, form Japan's greatest sake country. Nada Sakagura Tanbou, on now, is a puzzle-solving tour around 14 breweries and museums, running until 28 February. It is a plan for checking Nada sake on foot: the brewing water called Miyamizu and the craft of the Tanba master brewers. The dates combine easily with sightseeing in Kobe.
Details are on our Nada Sakagura Tanbou event page.
Tokyo: CRAFT SAKE WEEK at ROPPONGI HILLS (16 to 28 April)
The season closes in Tokyo. CRAFT SAKE WEEK, at Roppongi Hills Arena, is an urban sake festival gathering breweries from all over Japan. It runs for 13 days, so anyone who missed the regional festivals can catch up here on new sake from across the country. Dropping in after work is part of the charm of a city festival.
Details are on our CRAFT SAKE WEEK event page.
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