Japanese festivals and seasons, and what they mean for your trip
Cherry blossoms, summer festivals, autumn leaves and New Year. A short guide to the Japanese year, with the words to go with it.
Japan marks the year closely. Each season has its own food, its own flowers, its own events, and many of them have a word that every Japanese person knows. If you plan a trip, or study the language, it helps to know the calendar. Exact dates move from year to year and from place to place, so treat the months below as a guide.
Spring: hanami (花見)
Cherry blossom viewing is the best-known season. People gather under the trees with food and drinks, often in parks, and call it hanami. The blossoms come in late March or early April in much of the country, earlier in the south and later in the north, and they only last about a week. The forecast gets followed in the news like the weather.
Be aware of Golden Week (ゴールデンウィーク), a run of public holidays from late April into early May. Many Japanese people travel then, so trains, hotels and sights are crowded and prices go up.
Summer: matsuri (祭り) and fireworks
Summer is the season of matsuri, local festivals with food stalls, drums and processions. Many people wear a light cotton kimono called a yukata (浴衣). Big fireworks displays (花火, hanabi) run through July and August.
- Tanabata (七夕) on July 7: people write wishes on paper strips and hang them on bamboo.
- Obon (お盆) in mid-August: a time to remember ancestors. Many people travel to their home town, so it is another busy period.
Summers are hot and humid. Plan your days around the heat.
Autumn: koyo (紅葉)
Autumn leaves, kōyō, turn the mountains and temple gardens red and orange, from October in the north to late November or December in the south and in Kyoto. Like the cherry blossoms, they draw crowds. The weather is mild and dry, and it is a popular time to visit.
Shichi-go-san (七五三) on November 15: children aged three, five and seven are dressed up and taken to a shrine.
Winter: the New Year (お正月)
New Year, Oshōgatsu, is the most important holiday of the year. Many shops and restaurants close for a few days, and people visit a shrine or temple for the first time that year (初詣, hatsumōde). Greetings you will hear:
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| あけましておめでとうございます | akemashite omedetō gozaimasu | Happy New Year |
| 今年もよろしくお願いします | kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegai shimasu | Please look after me this year too |
Setsubun (節分) on February 3 marks the day before spring in the old calendar. People throw roasted beans out of the door and say 鬼は外、福は内 (oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi): demons out, luck in.
Plan with the calendar
- Book early for cherry blossom season, Golden Week, Obon, autumn leaves and New Year.
- Check local dates. Festivals are local, and the same one can fall on different days in different towns.
- Learn the seasonal words. Hanami, matsuri and kōyō appear in signs, menus and news, and they are a nice way to learn vocabulary.
If you would like some words for the trip itself, see Japanese phrases for your first trip.