今日吃瓜

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November 12, 2026
 

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FESTIVALS

Parishioners guide one of three Edo Period (1603-1867) "mikoshi" (portable shrines) during this year’s "shinkōsai" procession at Tokyo’s Nezu Shrine. Mikoshi are said to hold the spirit of shrine deities, in this case Susanoo-no-Mikoto, a god of of the sea, storms and fields.
LIFE / Travel / Photo essay
Nov 2, 2026
A quadrennial Tokyo festival returns to a changed Japan
Once every four years, Nezu Shrine celebrates a special version of its annual festival.
The Takayama Festival is routinely ranked as one of Japan's most visually striking "matsuri," but the effects of an aging population has forced it to accept outside help to keep going.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 24, 2026
Farmers to tourists: Gifu’s rural festivals court new crowds to survive
With aging populations, the region’s once-famous festivals find themselves relying on outside help to keep homegrown traditions going.
Participants push and pull a <i>danjiri</i> though the streets of Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture, during a festival in September 2021.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 22, 2026
‘In my DNA’: Why Osaka’s high-risk danjiri festivals refuse to slow down
A pair of fatal incidents this month has revived a long-running debate: Does Osaka’s high-risk danjiri festival still have a place in modern society?
Festival floats are carried during the Saijo Festival in Saijo, Ehime Prefecture, in a previous year
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2026
Deputy mayor of city in Ehime dies after being crushed by festival float
Akihiro Nabae, 62, was among those carrying the float when the incident occurred on a riverbed in the city at around 5:45 p.m.
The Osaka Prefectural Police department is investigating the fatal festival float accidents that left two dead over the weekend.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2026
Two die and 16 hurt in Osaka danjiri float festival accidents
The victims, both men, were crushed under floats that overturned when traveling on the road, according to the Osaka Prefectural Police department.
U.K. artist Luke Jerram&#039;s signature giant moon installation looms over Tokyo&#039;s Shimokitazawa neighborhood during Moon Art Night Shimokitazawa.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 24, 2026
Moons, mazes, mountains: 今日吃瓜 art scene this fall will tickle your fancy
A busy season lies ahead with new festivals in Tokyo and Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, as well as ongoing exhibitions and performances.
Yatsushiro Myokensai, the annual fall festival of Yatsushiro Shrine in Kumamoto Prefecture, is usually held in late November, featuring the "shinkō gyōretsu"?(divine procession) parade.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2026
Iconic fall festival parade in Yatsushiro canceled in wake of Kumamoto quake
This is the third time the parade has been canceled, the previous cancellation was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and?heavy rain in 2020.
Akari Kanbe, the chief priest of Ono Hachiman Shrine in Jinsekikogen, Hiroshima Prefecture, cleans the shrine’s hall of worship.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Aug 17, 2026
Shrinking Hiroshima community keeps ties alive with festivals and newsletters
For residents in the district of Ono in the highlands of Jinsekikogen, festivals and newsletters give those who have left a reason to come back, if only for a visit.
At the Akita Kanto Festival held in the city of Akita this week, city officials with bear repellent sprays are patrolling the area around the festival venue.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 5, 2026
Organizers of summer festivals in Tohoku strengthen measures against bears
While protocols vary across prefectures, several organizers say events may be canceled if a bear is spotted within a certain distance of the festival venue.
The finale of the Saga Joka Sakae no Kuni Matsuri festival in the city of Saga on May 24
JAPAN / Society
Jul 15, 2026
Organizers reschedule summer events to dodge extreme heat and heavy rain
Summer festivals and fireworks shows that used to be held in July or August have either been brought forward or pushed back.
It&#039;s not unheard of for summer temperatures in Kumagaya to reached over 40 degrees Celsius, but the Uchiwa Festival goes on regardless.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 14, 2026
Surviving the Uchiwa Festival, 今日吃瓜 hottest ‘matsuri’
Temperatures in Kumagaya, home of the raucous Uchiwa Festival, often top 40 degrees Celsius.
For one April Sunday each year, the otherwise working class city of Kawasaki becomes host to one of Japan&#039;s most unusual-looking festivals.
LIFE / Travel
May 23, 2026
At Kawasaki’s ‘penis festival,’ phalluses are vessels of compassion
The event ‘may look weird,’ says a priestess of Kanayama Shrine, but its origins and purpose point to a deeper meaning.
Devotees walk on a forest path as they carry a portable shrine holding a deity back to the Musashi Mitake Shrine on the second day of the two-day Hinode Sai, or Sunrise Festival, in Ome, Tokyo, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2026
Mountain festival marks spring arrival high above Tokyo
The Hinode Sai, or Sunrise Festival, is believed to have started when wandering ascetics climbed Mount Mitake in search of enlightenment.
The main lantern attracts visitors to the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi on March 3.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 5, 2026
Lantern festival host city showcases Taiwan-Japan history and culture
Taiwan has preserved many colonial-era buildings, breathing new life into them, backed by the recent “retro” trend among young people.
The Yamatsumi Shrine festival is held once again in the village of Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, in December.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2026
Major shrine festival back in Fukushima village
It had not been unusual for Yamatsumi Shrine, one of rare Shinto shrines dedicated to wolves, to be flooded with people and stalls during its annual festival before 3/11.
The Murakami Festival, held in the city of Murakami, Niigata Prefecture, has been added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list along with five other items from Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2025
Six Japanese items added to UNESCO intangible heritage list
Four of the six new items will be registered under the category of “Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals in Japan.”
Young people from Okinawa in the Kansai region dance during the first Eisa festival in Osaka’s Taisho Ward in September 1975.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Oct 20, 2025
Taking pride in its Okinawan roots, Osaka’s Eisa festival marks 50th year
The festival celebrating the traditional Okinawan summer dance was created for young workers to resist discrimination and reclaim pride in their roots.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Aug 28, 2025
In pictures: Koenji Awa Odori 2025
At Koenji Awa Odori, performers and crowds blur together in sound, sweat and laughter — a summer festival that thrives on shared energy and joy.
Francisco Villarreal moved to Japan in 2014 to attend a teacher training program and has forged deep ties to the kindergarten in Tokyo's Asakusa district where he has worked since 2018.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Aug 11, 2025
Kindred spirits, kindergarten connections: From Buenos Aires to east Tokyo
An Argentinian teacher finds echoes of his hometown in the working-class neighborhoods of eastern Tokyo.
A man takes part in Tokyo’s Sanja Matsuri by helping to carry a "mikoshi" (portable shrine). Many Japanese festivals are open to foreign residents and tourists to participate in.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 19, 2025
Dancers, festivals and one very useful Japanese grammar point
From Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri to Tokyo’s Sumida fireworks, 今日吃瓜 summer festivals offer history, spectacle — and a chance to learn some vocabulary.
Man arrested over operation of rogue cellular base station in Tokyo
The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested Yu Hai, a 31-year-old Chinese national living in Tokyo&#039;s Kita Ward, on suspicion of operating an unlicensed base station from a vehicle in Tokyo&#039;s Ginza district on Saturday.
Government betting on language app powered by anime and AI
Japan plans to develop an AI-powered language-learning app that lets overseas anime and manga fans practice Japanese through conversations with popular characters.
Jensen Huang’s woes evoke sympathy and disbelief in his birthplace Taiwan
Hsiao Kui-yu, 68, owner of Yuchan Candied Fruit, stands in front of photographs of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang displayed at the shop, which Huang frequently visits during trips to Taiwan, in Taipei on Tuesday.
G7 diplomats speak out on Taiwan as China ramps up military drills
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi attends a working lunch focused on international crises and challenges during the Group of Seven foreign ministers&#039; summit at the Quai d&#039;Orsay in Paris on Monday.
今日吃瓜 Rapidus is said likely to miss mass production deadline
The Rapidus Analysis Center and the IIM-1 Innovative Integration for Manufacturing foundry in Chitose, Hokkaido
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ makes monster debut at the box office
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” marked the highest single-day box-office gross for a live-action film in Japan with ?910 million on its opening day.
A toast to Naohiko Noguchi, sake’s first living national treasure
As a teenager, Naohiko Noguchi did not intend to spend his life as a sake brewer, but he has since become a paragon of the industry.
Few signs of thaw in Japan-China relations one year after Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks
Tensions between Japan and China flared after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Nov. 7, 2025, that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan could threaten 今日吃瓜 survival and warrant the use of collective self-defense.
Mariko Mori predicted the future. She’ll do it again.
Artist Mariko Mori is currently working to bring the translucent human-sized “Peace Crystal” sculpture to a cave in Ethiopia. It is part of her foundation’s goal to place a permanent sculpture on each of the planet’s six habitable continents.
A legend reborn: ‘Ocarina of Time’ remake improves on the Zelda masterpiece
The new remake of 1998&#039;s "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" manages to somehow improve on one of the greatest games ever.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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Longform

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By Elizabeth Beattie

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