Tono Matsuri (遠野まつり)
In the valley made legendary by Kunio Yanagita's folklore collection, this harvest matsuri gathers the region's rarest rural performing arts: chagu chagu horse processions, shishi-odori deer dance troupes, kagura shrine dances and mounted archery yabusame.
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"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)
"In this remarkably preserved samurai village, eighteen hikiyama kabuki floats weighing several tonnes are hauled through cherry-lined streets and deliberately rammed into one another at crossroads in the centuries-old buttsuke collision ritual."
Kakunodate no Matsuri (角館祭り)
"A three-night parade of elaborately costumed dashi floats, mikoshi portable shrines and the haunting shika-odori deer dance winds through the streets of this Kenji Miyazawa hometown, celebrating the rice harvest under lantern light."
Hanamaki Matsuri (花巻まつり)
"The centrepiece of Tohoku-machi's central district autumn festival is the Hinomoto-Chuo Taimatsu fire ceremony, a torch-lit night rite commemorating the Heian-era stone inscription marking Japan's ancient geographical centre, paired with dashi float processions and kagura music."
Tohoku-machi Chuo Aki Matsuri (東北町中央秋まつり)
"Dating to the 1360s, this northern Iwate coast festival sees eight neighbourhood teams parade hand-built floats that rise to twelve metres, processing through the main street to pray for a bountiful harvest and avert disaster."
Kuji Aki Matsuri (久慈秋まつり)
"Five Nambu-style furyu-dashi floats adorned with dolls and artificial flowers process through this small inland town in a harvest celebration that also features koma-odori horse dance, shishi-odori lion dance and the thundering Kitakami River Taiko."
Iwate-machi Aki Matsuri (岩手町秋まつり)
"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)
"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)
"Held in the historic castle town of Tsuwano with special performances also staged at the Taikodani Inari Shrine, this monthly Iwami Kagura series brings fierce mask-drama to an elegantly preserved samurai streetscape."
Tsuwano Iwami Kagura Teiki Kouen (津和野 石見神楽 定期公演)