Nachi-no-Ogi Matsuri (那智の扇祭り)
Twelve 50-kilogram cypress torches are carried in procession down the stone path of Kumano Nachi Taisha to purify the route to Japan's highest waterfall, performing Nachi Dengaku dance listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
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"Some 2,000 white-clad men race down 538 torch-lit stone steps of the UNESCO World Heritage Kamikura Shrine in a spectacle described in local song as a cascading dragon of fire, praying for harvest and family safety."
Oto Matsuri (御燈祭)
"Two sacred boats circle the tiny island of Kochi on the pristine Koza River commemorating the return of Kumano naval forces from the Genpei War, with lion dances, conch-shell ceremonies and competitive rowing on sacred ground."
Kouchi Matsuri (Mifune Festival) (御船祭り)
"At the foot of Mount Sanbe, the Tane Kagura Transmission Hall keeps alive an Iwami Kagura tradition embedded in the Japan Heritage site of Sabimeyama Shrine."
Tane Kagura Denshokan Teiki Kouen (多根神楽伝承館 定期公演)
"On the tiny island of Tsuken-jima off the Okinawa coast, men perform a rare circle dance of Chinese origin in traditional summer dress to hand-held drums, a centuries-old communal rite confined almost entirely to this one small island community."
Too Udui Dance
"On a remote island of 1,600 people, over 60 distinct dances performed across seven hamlet stages during Obon include the beloved Kitsune Fox Dance, where children in white fox makeup charm crowds that triple the island's population."
Himeshima Bon Odori
"Youth seinenkai groups carry odaiko and paranku drums through the streets of Yomitan village on all three Obon nights, performing ancestral eisa in the living community tradition rather than on a stage."
Okinawa Obon Eisa Michi-uchi (Village Street Eisa)
"Praying for the five-grain harvest and plentiful fishing from Lake Ogawara, neighbourhood teams in Tohoku-machi's Kamikita district parade hand-made dashi floats to the cry of 'Yare, Yare' along a one-kilometre course in one of Aomori's most community-rooted autumn customs."
Tohoku-machi Aki Matsuri Kamikita (東北町秋まつり上北地区)
"Elegantly costumed dancers in deep sedge hats drift silently through lantern-lit cobblestone streets to mournful kokyu strings in one of Japan's most atmospheric rural autumn customs."
Owara Kaze no Bon (おわら風の盆)