Takayama Autumn Festival (Hachiman Matsuri)
The Takayama Autumn Festival, formally the Hachiman Matsuri of Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine, is held annually on October 9 and 10 in the old merchant town of Takayama, in the Hida mountains of Gifu Prefecture. Together with the Sanno Festival held each April it forms the Takayama Festival, inscribed by UNESCO in 2016 as part of Japan's yama, hoko and yatai float festivals. Eleven tall lacquered floats, several dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and decorated with gilt metalwork, dyed textiles and Hida carpentry, are lined up in the streets during the day; four of them carry karakuri marionettes worked by hidden puppeteers on long rods. In the evening each float is hung with roughly a hundred paper lanterns and pulled slowly through the dark wooden townscape. Between the floats there are portable shrine processions, lion dances and flute and drum music. Because the floats are irreplaceable, they stay in their storehouses if it rains, and the festival continues in reduced form.
Event information
| When | Usually held in early October; check the official site for the latest schedule |
|---|---|
| Where | Takayama |
| Access | The festival area covers the old town and Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine, both walkable from JR Takayama Station on the Takayama Main Line; the shrine is at the far northern end of the preserved streets. |
| Schedule status | Check the official site |
| Official information | Open the official site |
Practical tips
- Takayama is a small town and its hotels and ryokan sell out for the festival months ahead; many visitors stay in Toyama, Kanazawa or Nagoya and come in by train or bus.
- Rain changes everything - the floats stay indoors - so check the shrine or tourism association notice on the morning of each day.
- Karakuri marionette performances happen at set spots and draw dense crowds; arrive well before the announced slot if you want a sightline.
- The Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall next to Sakurayama Hachimangu displays several real floats year-round if your trip falls outside the festival.
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