[category]
[title]
With hydrangeas already blooming across Tokyo and Pride Month underway, the city is bursting with things to see and do. June brings a jam-packed calendar of festivals, celebrations and community events, among them three traditional festivals that will take over the city streets with lively parades, ornate mikoshi (portable shrines) and plenty of local culture on display. Better yet, two of these festivals are taking place in their grandest form this year, making for a particularly rare and spectacular experience.
And this is just the beginning of the season’s festivities – many more summer festivals are still to come in July and August.
Here are the June festivals you should mark on your calendar:
Torigoe Matsuri
See a huge four-tonne portable shrine being shuttled through the streets near Torigoe Shrine in Asakusabashi at this traditional festival known for the intense fights that invariably break out over who gets to carry the monster mikoshi.
The main event is on Sunday June 7 from 6.50am to 9pm, when the mikoshi is carried through the streets. If you want to catch the best of the action in the glow of beautifully lit lanterns, be there at around 8.30pm to see the mikoshi make its way back to the shrine.
Meanwhile on Saturday June 6, local neighbourhood associations parade their own, much smaller portable shrines around the area. Also don’t miss the food stalls that are set up along the streets during the festival.
Sanno Festival
Celebrated since the early 17th century and recognised as one of the three ‘great festivals’ of Edo (along with the Kanda and Fukagawa festivals), the Sanno Matsuri is often considered to mark the start of Tokyo's summer festival season.
The highlight of the 10-day festival is the Jinkosai Grand Procession, a biennial event that will take place this year on Friday June 12. The procession features around 500 participants dressed in imperial court attire, who will march approximately 23km through Tokyo, passing landmarks including the Imperial Palace, Tokyo Station and the Ginza Crossing. This year, the main mikoshi float will feature Ebisu, the god of fortune, riding atop a giant shrimp.
Meanwhile, a series of smaller-scale events will take place at the festival’s main site, Hie Shrine. These include a lantern display of children's drawings within the shrine grounds from Sunday June 7 and the chigo-gyoretsu parade (Sunday June 14 at 12noon and 2.30pm), where children dress up in orange, green and purple to wish for health and growth. Another highlight is the Sanno Kasho Festival on Tuesday June 16 at 1pm – an ancient ritual where wagashi (Japanese sweets) artisans present their creations to the deities, praying for protection against epidemics. Check out the schedule (in Japanese only) for all the details.
Coinciding with the festivities at Hie Shrine, the public square at Sanno Park Tower will host the Sanno Ondo Bon Odori Festival. Taking place daily from 6pm between Saturday June 13 and Monday June 15, the event invites visitors to enjoy the summer evening breeze while joining in communal bon odori dances accompanied by the rhythmic beats of taiko drums. There will also be plenty of food stalls, making this a quintessential summertime matsuri experience.
Tsukiji Lion Dance Festival
Held in its grandest form only once every three years, the Tsukiji Shishi Matsuri, or Lion Dance Festival, takes place over three days around Namiyoke Inari Shrine at the edge of Tsukiji Outer Market. This year, the festival returns in its largest and most spectacular configuration.
On Thursday June 11 at 11am, you can join in a ritual to ward off bad luck and infectious diseases, while on Saturday June 13, you can watch Edo no Sato Kagura, a sacred Shinto music and dance performance from the Edo period (1603–1868).
The festival’s main event happens on Sunday June 14, when a series of mikoshi are paraded through the streets with the eponymous lion dance. The procession starts at 8.30am at Namiyoke Inari Shrine and ends when the mikoshi make their return to the shrine at 3.40pm.
If you can’t make it to the shrine in the morning, download this map (in Japanese only), as it shows the parade's route and the arrival time at each checkpoint. Make sure to fuel up on some tasty festival grub at the food stalls that will be there on Saturday and Sunday.
For more things to do this weekend, visit our weekly events roundup. You can also check out our lists of the best art exhibitions and gigs happening this June.
More from Time Out Tokyo
One of the world’s best burgers is right here in Tokyo
The Pokémon Cafe in Tokyo's Nihonbashi is reopening this month
Electricity and gas bill subsidies around ¥5,000 are coming to Tokyo this summer
Shibuya’s Hands store will close in November after 48 years in business
Here’s what to expect at the revamped Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi
Want to be the first to know what’s cool in Tokyo? Sign up to our newsletter for the latest updates from Tokyo and Japan.