City guides
Where are you going?
The thirteen places most Japan trips are built around, each with its own events on the calendar. The full calendar also covers all 47 prefectures, browsable by prefecture, region and month.
Tokyo53 events on the calendarThe capital runs the deepest calendar in the country: the great summer matsuri and fireworks, the sumo tournam...Kyoto13 events on the calendarThe old capital's year is built around its festivals: Gion Matsuri fills July, the Daimonji fires close Obon i...Osaka6 events on the calendarJapan's kitchen and its loudest good time: Tenjin Matsuri on the river in July, summer fireworks, year-round s...Nara4 events on the calendarJapan's first permanent capital, an easy day trip from Kyoto or Osaka that deserves a night: the great bronze ...Hiroshima3 events on the calendarA city that carries its history openly, around the Peace Memorial Park and the A-Bomb Dome, with the shrine is...Sapporo11 events on the calendarHokkaido's capital is a winter city first: the Snow Festival in February, the White Illumination, and beer and...Hakone1 events on the calendarThe hot spring town in the hills west of Tokyo: open-air baths, the Open-Air Museum, Lake Ashi pirate ships an...Fukuoka5 events on the calendarKyushu's biggest city runs on its own clock: Hakata Gion Yamakasa in July, the November sumo tournament, and t...Kanazawa2 events on the calendarThe Hokuriku coast's culture city: Kenrokuen, one of Japan's great gardens, the preserved geisha and samurai d...Nikko4 events on the calendarThe shrines and temples of Nikko, a UNESCO site in the mountains north of Tokyo: Toshogu's carved shrines, the...NisekoHokkaido guideHokkaido's powder capital, a ski area spread around the Niseko range facing Mount Yotei. Its season is the win...HakubaNagano guideThe Hakuba Valley in the Northern Alps hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics and remains Japan's best-known ski vall...Mount Fuji5 events on the calendarThe mountain from its best angles: the Five Lakes on the north side, Kawaguchiko and Yamanakako, with Gotemba ...