🏮 Akkeshi Natsu Matsuri

あっけし夏まつり

Akkeshi, Hokkaido (厚岸町内) · 4–5 July 2026 (Sat–Sun)

Summer festivalTraditional performing arts

293 days to go
Rooms around Akkeshi, Hokkaido fill up while the festival is on.

The Akkeshi Summer Festival is a traditional summer festival held every year in early July in Akkeshi, Hokkaido, originating as the annual grand festival of Akkeshi Shrine, founded over 200 years ago, and Shinryu Shrine, founded over 130 years ago. In 1993 it was set to be held in early July, the start of the fishing season, and it takes place at venues around the town. The festival has a long history: the diary of Kokutai Temple, the "Nikkan-ki," records that a lion dance was performed at New Year in 1816. With the great herring catches of the 1960s and 1970s, it spread throughout the town and developed into today's Akkeshi Summer Festival. The highlight is the traditional lion dance continued since the Meiji era. A two-person lion, with the lion's head held in place by the mouth, a front-leg performer holding a gohei (sacred staff) and bells, and a rear-leg performer forming the body and tail, dances to the bakabayashi music of flute and drums, led by Okame and Hyottoko in a distinctive style.