Like the rest of Japan, Shiga hosts a huge variety of festivals and celebrations. From traditional events such as Setsu-bun and the Nagahama Kimono festival to mounted archery and a festival celebrating nakedness - theres something for everyone!
Otsu FireworksWhen: Early August
Location: Otsu/Zeze Along with the Nagahama fireworks, the Biwako display is the biggest in Shiga. Get there early with a blanket and snacks for best viewing. Be prepared for a huge crowd. Starts around dusk. 15 minute walk from JR Otsu Station, Biwako Line, down to the lake, or a short walk from Biwako-Hamaotsu Station, Keihan Line. |
Ishiyama-dera FestivalWhen: Early August
Location: Ishiyamadera Lanterns will be lit up along the approach to the main hall in the famous temple grounds. Expect fireworks and food stalls. The temple is free all day. A short walk from Ishiyama-dera on the Keihan Line. |
Taga Taisha FestivalWhen: Mid-August
Location: Taga During this festival the grounds of the Taga Taisha shrine are decorated with more than 10,000 beautiful lanterns sent from across the country. The festival hosts a wide variety of performances and celebrations, finishing in a traditional ceremonial dance. Taga Taisha-Mae on the Ohmi Railway. |
Takebe Taisha FestivalWhen: Mid-August
Location: Ishiyama This festival, held annual by the Takebe Taisha Shrine, is one of the big three Otsu festivals. The main feature is the senko-sai, a portable shrine procession on boats along Setagawa River. The festival runs from 17:00 - 21:00 and finishes with a fireworks display. |
Hifuri MatsuriWhen: Mid-August
Location: Hino Held for two evenings during the obon season (photo at top). Participants light their torches at Gosha Shrine and tap the torches on the road as they proceed to Hibarino park where the torches are thrown up to a large pine tree. The more torches get stuck on the tree, the better the next harvest will be. |
Hikone Bayashi Dance FestivalWhen: August
Location: Hikone This dance festival is the climax of summer in Hikone. During the festivities, several thousand residents will dance and parade along Hikone's shopping street to "Hikone bayashi," a newer folk song composed in 1960. In recent years, participating dance groups have come with even more extravagant costumes, adding to the popularity of the event. |
Hino Imokurabe FestivalWhen: Early September
Location: Hino This festival is held to encourage a plentiful harvest. Farmers from western and eastern areas grow a special potato and compete by comparing their lengths. The longer is expected to have a good harvest, the shorter a poor one. Gather at Kumano Jinja at around 13:00 and then go to Mt. Nogami for the competition at 14:00, ending at roughly 16:00. |
Setsubun Taga TaishaWhen: Early February
Location: Taga Taisha Shiga’s biggest Setsubun festival is in Taga. They have impressive ogre (oni) dancers to act as the evil demons to be chased away. They will hold two bean-throwing (mame-maki) sessions. It starts with a religious ceremony in the shrine’s worship hall. The shrine’s outdoor stage will then show a dramatic performance by the ogres as they are chased away by priests throwing beans at them. The main event is when over 300 people born under the current year’s Oriental zodiac begin to throw soybeans and mochi to the crowd. |
Sagicho MatsuriWhen: Mid-March
Location: Omihachiman Big floats are ignited with fire one after the other and men wearing make-up dance wildly.On Sunday evening in mid-March, people dance excitedly amid showers of fire sparks around the blazing Sagicho floats. This explains why this festival is also called the Omihachiman no Hi-matsuri (Omihachiman Shrine fire festival). |
Sanno FestivalWhen: Mid-April
Location: Hiyoshi Taisha, Otsu The Sanno Festival is held annually at Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine, the head shrine of a national network of 3,800 Sanno shrines. Along with the Otsu Festival and the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival, it is one of the Three Great Festivals of Lake Biwa. The Sanno Festival has also been named an official Otsu Municipal Intangible Folk Cultural Property. |
Nagahama Hikiyama FestivalWhen: Mid-April
Location: Nagahama Nagahama Hikiyama Festival is one of the three largest float festivals in Japan as well as one of the three big festivals of Shiga, and has been designated one of the nation's intangible folklore cultural assets. The children’s kabuki theater, performed by 5 to 12 years old boys on the night of the 13th, morning of the 14th and throughout the days of the 15th and 16th, astounds adults and captivates entire audiences. The parade of the child actors in costume on the night of the 14th and all the four Hikiyama floats illuminated by lanterns on the night of the 15th are a sight to see. |
Kusatsu Shukuba FestivalWhen: Late-April
Location: Kusatsu Kusatsu Post Town Festival is one of the main spring events in Shiga. It is the 48th festival this year and nearly 80,000 people visit every year. The main attraction is the Procession of the Age where people in exquisite costumes strolls through the beautiful historic town. With local gourmet foods, stage performances by local participants and more, the festival continues to expand. |
Omi-Jingu Mounted Archery FestivalWhen: Early-June
Location: Otsu Yabusame horseback archery starts with a ceremony at the shrine. On the horse track at the shrine entrance, reserved seating and free standing room are provided to watch a bevy of horseback archers trying to hit targets as they gallop down the track at full speed. |