🏮 Tsukuba San Gama Matsuri

筑波山ガマまつり

Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Mount Tsukuba Shrine) · Every year on 31 August

Traditional performing arts

351 days to go
Rooms around Tsukuba, Ibaraki fill up while the festival is on.

The Tsukubasan Gama Matsuri is held on autumn nights on Mount Tsukuba in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture, at venues including Tsukubasan Shrine, Tsukubasan Daido, and the cable car's Miyawaki Station. It is organized by the Tsukubasan Gama Matsuri Executive Committee and the Tsukuba Tourism and Convention Association, with Tsukuba City as co-organizer. Now in its 77th edition, the festival begins with a Shinto ritual and a bamboo lantern lighting ceremony, followed by a performance of the "Gama no abura uri koujou," a well-known Mount Tsukuba specialty, a street vendor's chant. About 300 bamboo lanterns line the venues, casting soft light from Zuishinmon Gate to Miyawaki Station and around Daido. A nighttime cable car service commemorating the 100th anniversary of the cable car's opening also runs, letting visitors enjoy the autumn night along with the mountain's night view. Admission is free.

Getting there

The venues are Tsukubasan Shrine, Tsukubasan Daido, and the cable car's Miyawaki Station, among others. By public transport, take the Mount Tsukuba shuttle bus from Tsukuba Station (about 60 minutes) and get off at the last stop, Tsukubasan Shrine Entrance; it is a short walk from there. By car, it is about 30 minutes from the Sakuragi-Ushiku Interchange on the Joban Expressway. Parking is available around Mount Tsukuba (paid).