Chichibu Night Festival

The annual grand festival of Chichibu Shrine held every December in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture. The spectacle of ornate floats and kasaboko being hauled up steep slopes under winter fireworks is breathtaking. Registered as part of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage 'Yama, Hoko, Yatai float festivals,' it is counted among Japan's three great float festivals.

Traditional festival held annually in December at Chichibu Shrine in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture. Historic festival continuing since Edo period, famous for lavish floats parading through city streets. One of Japan's representative winter traditional festivals.

A festival of Kushida Shrine held every July in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka. The highlight is 'Oiyama,' where men race through Hakata's streets carrying 'kaki-yamakasa' floats weighing over one ton. With over 770 years of history and inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016, it is a festival embodying the spirit of Hakata people.

The annual festival of Chichibu Shrine in Saitama, held December 2-3. One of Japan's three great float festivals, its highlight is the dramatic hauling of lavishly decorated floats up steep Dango-zaka slope. The dreamlike combination of winter fireworks and illuminated floats is spectacular. Registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

A festival of Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, one of Japan's Three Great Festivals. Held throughout July, the spectacular Yamahoko Junko parade of ornate floats through the city streets is the main highlight. Begun in 869 as prayers to ward off plague, it was inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009, with over 1,150 years of history.

The grand festivals of Hie Shrine (spring) and Sakurayama Hachimangu (autumn) in Takayama, Gifu. The spectacular sight of ornate floats—called 'moving Yomeimon gates'—parading through the old streets of 'Little Kyoto' Takayama is breathtaking. Inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016, it is counted among Japan's Three Most Beautiful Festivals.