Festivals Nachi-no-Ogi Fire Festival 2026 Tuesday - Jul 14th The Nachi Fire Festival, or Nachi-no-Ogi Matsuri, is a vibrant and historic event held annually on July 14th at the Kumano Nachi..
Culture Kumano Hongu Shrine Spring Festival 2026 Apr 13th - Apr 15th The spring festival at the Hongu Taisha from April 13th to 15th each year gets absolutely everyone in Hongu Town to participate..
Festivals Oto Matsuri 2026 Friday - Feb 6th With a history stretching back more than 1400 years, the Oto Matsuri is one of Japan's oldest Shinto fire festivals and remains..
Culture A Spiritual Stay in Koyasan Róisín Finnerty Discover a new world in the spiritual center of Wakayama. Mount Koya offers a new perspective on the traditional world of Japan...
12 Culture Kumano Hongu's Oyunohara Torii Gate Larry Knipfing Standing 33.9 meters tall and 42 meters wide, the Hongu Oyunohara Torii Gate, also known at 'Otorii' (O means “big”) w..
Culture Sky Lantern Festival 2025 Nov 8th - Dec 13th 2025 Past Event As the weather cools down, a wide variety of illumination events begin to pop up at various locations across Japan. One such event..
12 Culture Saito Goma Fire Ceremony in Hongu Alena Eckelmann Yamabushi perform a fire ceremony at the Kumano Hongu Taisha Spring Festival in April each year
Culture Kumano Nachi Taisha The Kumano Nachi Taisha is a Shinto shrine and part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed holy sites and pilgrimage routes in the Kii Mountains of Japan...