Shiratori Jinja Natsukoshi Matsuri (白鳥神社夏越し祭り)
Held each 31 July at the ancient Shiratori Shrine, this traditional midsummer purification festival culminates in a fireworks display of around 1,000 shells illuminating the night sky over the small town.
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"This coastal fishing community's autumn festival features some of Shikoku's largest and most ornately dressed chosa floats, their gold tassels and red fittings carried through narrow sea-town streets by teams of local men."
Sanuki Toyohama Chosa Matsuri (さぬき豊浜ちょうさ祭)
"For just two days each August a temporary bridge is laid across the Seto Inland Sea to this otherwise inaccessible island shrine, making it one of Japan's most fleeting and atmospheric pilgrimage festivals."
Tsushima Jinja Natsu Taisai (津嶋神社夏季大祭)
"On the last Saturday of July, over a hundred paper lanterns are floated down the historic Oda River through the white-walled merchant town of Uchiko in tribute to the Taira clan's fallen warriors."
Oda-gawa Toro Nagashi Matsuri (小田川とうろう流し祭り)
"The old castle-town of Nakamura comes alive each late July with a traditional street dance parade followed by a spectacular procession of towering illuminated lantern floats along the Shimanto River."
Nakamura Odori to Shimanto Chochin-dai Parade (なかむら踊り・しまんと提灯台パレード)
"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)