Japanese festivals

[5] Various folk dances, costume processions, kagura, dengaku, bugaku, and noh performed at festivals are also registered as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

Some are based around temples or shrines, others hanabi (fireworks), and still others around contests where the participants sport loin cloths (see: Hadaka Matsuri).

One can always find in the vicinity of a matsuri booths selling souvenirs and food such as takoyaki, and games, such as Goldfish scooping.

It began in 1950 when high school students built snow statues in Odori Park, central Sapporo.

Held in the town of Yasumiya, this festival is on the south side of Lake Towada (near the wooden statues).

This festival is open all day, but at 5 pm one can enjoy activities such as going through a snow maze, exploring a Japanese igloo, and eat foods from Aomori and Akita prefectures.

This festival is held annually and features colorful lantern floats called nebuta which are pulled through the streets of Central Aomori.

During this festival, 20 large nebuta floats are paraded through the streets near Aomori JR rail station.

Everyone is welcome to purchase their own haneto costume that they may too join in on the fun (Mishima, Aomori Nebuta Festival).

This summer jazz festival does not cost anything but potential members of the public still need to receive a ticket to enter the event.

Homes are decorated and the holidays are celebrated by family gatherings, visits to temples or shrines, and formal calls on relatives and friends.

In the Imperial Palace at dawn on the 1st, the Emperor performs the rite of shihōhai (worship of the four-quarters), in which he offers prayers for the well-being of the nation.

On January 2 the public is allowed to enter the inner palace grounds; the only other day this is possible is the Emperor's birthday (February 23).

On the 2nd and 3rd days acquaintances visit one another to extend greetings (nenshi) and sip otoso (a spiced rice wine).

Tiered platforms for hina ningyō (hina dolls; a set of dolls representing the emperor, empress, attendants, and musicians in ancient court dress) are set up in the home, and the family celebrates with a special meal of hishimochi (diamond-shaped rice cakes) and shirozake (rice malt with sake).

Excursions and picnics for enjoying flowers, particularly cherry blossoms are also common, as well as many drinking parties often to be seen in and around auspicious parks and buildings.

The subject of flower viewing has long held an important place in literature, dance, and fine arts.

Date: April 8 Other Names: Flower Festival Information: Hanamatsuri celebrates the birth of the Buddha.

On this day, all temples hold 降誕会 (Gōtan-e), 仏生会 (Busshō-e), 浴仏会 (Yokubutsu-e), 龍華会 (Ryūge-e) and 花会式 (Hana-eshiki).

Japanese people pour ama-cha (a beverage prepared from a variety of hydrangea) on small Buddha statues decorated with flowers, as if bathing a newborn baby.

People often write wishes and romantic aspirations on long, narrow strips of colored paper and hang them on bamboo branches along with other small ornaments.

Small paper lanterns containing a burning flame are either set afloat to a river, lake or sea or they are let go and float away into the night.

Date: October- Information: The Japanese tradition of going to visit scenic areas where leaves have turned red in the Autumn.

[26] Date: November 15 Information: Three- and seven-year-old girls and five-year-old boys are taken to the local shrine to pray for their safe and healthy future.

This festival started because of the belief that children of certain ages were especially prone to bad luck and hence in need of divine protection.

The house is then decorated in the traditional fashion: A sacred rope of straw (shimenawa) with dangling white paper strips (shide) is hung over the front door to prevent evil spirits from entering and to show the presence of the toshigami.

Originally these year-end fairs provided opportunities for farmers, fisherfolk and mountain dwellers to exchange goods and buy clothes and other necessities for the coming year.

The reason they are rung 108 times is because of the Buddhist belief that human beings are plagued by 108 earthly desires or passions (bonnō).

It is also a custom to eat toshikoshi soba in the hope that one's family fortunes will extend like the long noodles.