Events in Japan in October 2026
Dates verified: September 27, 2026
The most memorable festivals, fireworks nights, flower seasons, snow festivals and light-ups in October 2026, each date checked against its organiser. Filter by kind or city, and open an event for the details.
- Nagasaki Kunchi · 7–9 Oct長崎くんちNagasaki · FreeNagasaki's three-day autumn festival for Suwa Shrine, a rotating showcase of dragon dances, spinning ship floats and Dutch and Chinese-flavoured performances.
Marine-Blue via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped - Takayama Autumn Festival (Hachiman Matsuri) · 9–10 Oct秋の高山祭（八幡祭）Takayama · Gifu · FreeThe autumn half of the Takayama Festival, two October days of gilded yatai floats, karakuri puppets and a lantern-lit evening procession through the old town.
Sjaak Kempe via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · cropped - Kawagoe Festival · 17–18 Oct川越まつりKawagoe · Saitama · FreeLittle Edo's October float festival, two days and nights when tall dashi floats parade Kawagoe's warehouse streets and duel in the musical hikkawase.
aotaro via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · cropped - Ashikaga Flower Park Flower Fantasy · 17 Oct 2026 – 14 Feb 2027あしかがフラワーパーク 光の花の庭Ashikaga · Tochigi · From ¥1,500The wisteria garden's winter illumination, four months of lights in three themed phases at Ashikaga Flower Park, one of Japan's three great illuminations.
Miyuki Meinaka via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped - Nabana no Sato Illumination · 17 Oct 2026 – 31 May 2027なばなの里 イルミネーションKuwana · Mie · From ¥2,500Japan's largest garden illumination, from mid-October to the end of May in a flower park near Nagoya, with a light tunnel and a field of millions of LEDs.
carloshonda via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0 · cropped - Jidai Matsuri · 22 Oct時代祭Kyoto · FreeKyoto's Festival of the Ages, a 22 October procession of two thousand people in a thousand years of historical costume from the Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine.
Corpse Reviver via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · cropped - Tokyo Mega Illumination · 31 Oct 2026 – 10 Jan 2027東京メガイルミTokyo · From ¥800Tokyo's largest ticketed illumination, a winter light park laid out across Oi Racecourse in Shinagawa on the nights when there is no racing.
Syced via Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0 · cropped - Already running
- Hitachi Seaside Park Kochia Carnival · 18 Sept – 3 NovコキアカーニバルHitachinaka · Ibaraki · From ¥800The autumn counterpart to the blue nemophila hill, when tens of thousands of round kochia bushes turn Miharashi Hill a deep crimson through October.
Andre Benz via Unsplash · Unsplash License · cropped
Frequently Asked Questions
Nagasaki Kunchi’s dragon dances and spinning ship floats fill 7 to 9 October, Takayama’s Hachiman Matsuri parades its gilded yatai on 9 and 10 October with a lantern procession on the 9th, Kawagoe’s tall dashi floats duel in the musical hikkawase over the third weekend, and Kyoto’s Jidai Matsuri walks two thousand people in a thousand years of costume from the Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine on 22 October.
Mid to late October. Ashikaga Flower Park’s Flower Fantasy and Nabana no Sato near Nagoya both switch on around 17 October, and Tokyo Mega Illumination lights Oi Racecourse from the end of the month on non-racing nights. In the same weeks Hitachi Seaside Park’s kochia bushes turn Miharashi Hill crimson, so an October trip can pair autumn colour with the first lights.
Jidai Matsuri postpones to 23 October if it rains; Takayama’s floats return to their storehouses, which open their doors for viewing. Book early: October is already high season in the Japanese Alps, Kyoto’s hotels are expensive from late October, and Nagasaki Kunchi’s paid shrine stands sold out in June, so plan to follow the free niwasaki-mawari performances through the streets instead.