Sep172026
Nada no Sakagura Tanbou 2026 (Nada sake-brewery puzzle trail)
Autumn-winter campaign across Japan's largest sake-producing district, Nada Gogo, linking 14 brewery museums and shops in four walking courses during the new-sake season.
Eating in Japan
Plan the trip around the food.
Half of Japan's calendar is edible: sake festivals in the brewing districts, crab and oyster seasons on the coasts, food stalls at every matsuri. Start with the food events, then learn the formats.
The formats worth knowing
Matsuri stalls (yatai). Every festival brings its food street: yakisoba, takoyaki, grilled corn, shaved ice. Eat standing, eat as you walk the grounds, and expect the best stalls to be the ones with the smoke.
Depachika. The basement food halls of the big department stores are Japan's great food galleries: regional sweets, bento, sake, pickles, all of it gift-wrapped. Go an hour before closing for marked-down boxes.
Ekiben. Station bento boxes are regional cooking in miniature, sold on the platform and eaten on the train. A shinkansen ride without one is a missed course.
Shotengai and markets. The covered shopping streets and morning markets (Nishiki in Kyoto, Kuromon in Osaka, the port markets of the north) are where cities actually shop. Arrive hungry and early.
Food events on the calendar
Oct302026
Tokyo Ramen Festa
One of Japan's largest ramen events, with 12 ramen shops from across the country serving at Komazawa Olympic Park.
Nov32026
Yamanashi Nouveau Festival 2026 (Tokyo)
Release-day festival for Yamanashi Nouveau (Koshu and Muscat Bailey A new wine), with dozens of Yamanashi wineries pouring in Hibiya Park on the Culture Day holiday.
Nov62026
Echizen Crab Season
The fixed annual season for Echizen-gani snow crab, Fukui's winter delicacy, from 6 November to 20 March.
Nov62026
Whisky Festival 2026 in Tokyo
Japan's largest whisky tasting fair, 121 exhibitors including Japanese craft distilleries, run by critic Mamoru Tsuchiya's Whisky Culture Institute. Prime chance to taste rare Japanese whisky.
Nov142026
Echizen Crab Festival 2026
Opening-of-season crab market for Echizen gani, Fukui's prized snow crab, with boiled-crab stalls, live auctions and seafood barbecues on the coast. Held over two weekends only.
Nov142026
Fushimi Sake Festival in Otesuji 2026 (10th)
Fifteen Fushimi breweries (Gekkeikan, Kizakura, Tamanohikari etc.) pour their sake along the covered Otesuji arcade in one of Japan's great sake towns.
Nov202026
Munich Christmas Market in Sapporo
Sapporo's sister-city Christmas market modelled on Munich's, with German food, Glühwein and craft stalls under the Odori Park illuminations.
Feb132027
Jojima Sake Brewery Opening 2027 (33rd)
Kyushu's biggest kurabiraki: the breweries of the Jojima sake district near Kurume open together for one weekend with new-sake tasting, drawing around 100,000 visitors.
Feb132027
Miyajima Oyster Festival 2027
Hiroshima's famous oyster island serves grilled, steamed and hotpot oysters at bargain prices beside the ferry pier at peak season, with 10:00-15:00 stalls both days.