🏮 Himeji Yukata Matsuri

姫路ゆかたまつり

Himeji, Hyogo (Osakabe Shrine) · Every year, 22–24 June

Summer festival

281 days to go
Rooms around Himeji, Hyogo fill up while the festival is on.

The Himeji Yukata Festival is a summer festival held every year from June 22 to 24 in central Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, at Nagakabe Shrine, Otemae-dori, and the Sannomaru Hiroba of Himeji Castle, among other places. It is associated with the regular festival of Nagakabe Shrine, the guardian deity of Himeji Castle, and is characterized by people enjoying the event in yukata (light summer kimono). Its origin dates to the mid-Edo period, when Sakakibara Masamine, lord of the Harima Himeji domain, moved Nagakabe Shrine into the grounds of Chogenji Temple so that commoners could also worship, and at the enshrinement ceremony on June 22, 1742 (Kanei 2), townspeople who had no time to make formal ceremonial robes were permitted to wear yukata. The festival was once discontinued, but in 1952 it was revived by the Goyukai, a local kimono fabric merchants' association. The festival features a yukata parade in which children holding revolving lanterns and the Himeji Castle Queen walk through the streets, a Himeji Castle folk song festival, a yukata fashion show, and events in the various shopping streets. There is also a perk whereby admission to Himeji Castle, Kokoen, and other sites is free for those wearing yukata, and the festival has become a seasonal sight coloring early summer in Himeji.