🏮 Takayama Matsuri

春の高山祭

Takayama, Gifu (Hie Shrine) · Every year on 14 April

Traditional performing artsFloats

212 days to go
Rooms around Takayama, Gifu fill up while the festival is on.

The Spring Takayama Festival is a traditional festival held every year on April 14 and 15, centered on Hie Shrine in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture. Along with the Autumn Takayama Festival (Hachiman Festival), it is counted as one of Japan's three most beautiful festivals. It has been passed down for a long time as an event retaining the atmosphere of the Edo period, and its distinguishing feature is that the areas where it is held and the yamaboko (festival floats) differ between spring and autumn. At the center of the festival, the "Goshinko" procession features a grand parade of several hundred people dressed in traditional costumes, departing from the front approach of Hie Shrine and parading through the town. While hayashi music and gagaku are performed, events such as the "hiki-soroe" (lining up of floats), "yatai hikimawashi" (pulling the floats around), and "karakuri hounou" (mechanical puppet performances) take place along the way. Also, at the spring "Yomatsuri" (night festival), swaying lights decorate the shrine grounds and heighten the festival atmosphere.

Getting there

25 minutes on foot from Takayama Station on the JR Takayama Main Line, or 15 minutes by car from Takayama IC on the Chubu-Jukan Expressway. There is no parking lot.