Best Summer Experiences in Japan

Summer in much of Japan is hot and can be unrelentingly humid; however, it’s also the season for top festivals, mass folk dancing, mountain hikes, and enjoying a cold beer on a city rooftop. If you’re travelling in Japan between June and September, carry a fan and make the most of these summertime experiences.

Japan’s Summer Festivals and Fireworks

It is challenging to travel in Japan during summer and not find yourself caught up in a matsuri (festival) of some sort. In cities and towns across the country, floats are paraded, people get kitted out in their colourful yukata (cotton kimono), food stalls cram the streets, fireworks explode, and the beer and sake flow.

Among the summer highlights are Kyoto’s famous Gion Matsuri, which runs for the entire month of July, and Osaka’s Tenjin Matsuri on 24 and 25 July. In Northern Honshū, there are unusual feats of strength – from 3 to 6 August, people balance long bamboo poles strung with lanterns on their heads and shoulders for the Akita Kantō Matsuri. On Miyajima, there is a centuries-old ceremony of traditional music in boats for Kangen-sai on 1 August. And on the island of Sado-ga-shima, from 21 to 23 August, the Kodō Drummers wow music lovers at the Earth Celebration.

Dance the Bon-odori

Many events happen in mid-August during O-bon, the festival for honouring one’s ancestral spirits. It’s a time when the whole country takes a holiday; families get together in their hometowns, graves are tended, lanterns are lit, and – perhaps most interesting for visitors – the traditional Bon-odori (Bon dance) is performed. Bon-odori is a type of folk dance, involving a series of simple repeated arm and hand movements, steps, and claps, sometimes incorporating a fan or a towel.

A good place to see Bon-odori en masse is at the Awa-odori Matsuri in the city of Tokushima, where each evening from 12 to 15 August, teams of dancers move through the street competing for prizes, and much sake is consumed. If that’s not enough dancing for you, head to the town of Gūjo-Hachiman in the mountains north of Nagoya. There are 32 nights of dancing here between mid-July and early September as part of the Gūjo Odori festival – four of these nights see people stepping and clapping until dawn. Participation is encouraged. As the Awa-odori song goes: ‘It’s a fool who dances and a fool who watches; if both are fools, why not dance?

Taste the Summer Season in Japan

Any season is great for eating in Japan; however, summer has its specialities. One summer favourite is a cold-noodle dish using very thin sōmen noodles. Although the thought of slurping down cold noodles may not appeal to some, it is a surprisingly refreshing meal. The chilled noodles are served with a dipping sauce and sides like chopped cucumber, ham, tomatoes, and shredded egg. For a fun twist, look for nagashi-sōmen (flowing noodles) setups at some restaurants and festivals, where you need to catch the noodles with chopsticks as they flow past in water through a bamboo half-pipe.

Excellent eating opportunities are also available at summer festivals, where fried goods and food-on-sticks dominate the scene. Before browsing the food stalls, it’s advisable to know your yaki. Yakitori (grilled chicken skewers), yaki-soba (fried noodles), tako-yaki (battered, fried octopus pieces), okonomiyaki (fried savoury ‘pancakes’), and ika-yaki (grilled squid on skewers) are all typical festival treats.

For a cooling dessert, try a bowl of kakigōri – a fluffy hill of shaved ice flavoured with sweet syrup, sometimes drizzled with condensed milk or topped with sweet beans, fruit, and a scoop of ice cream. Standard syrup flavours include strawberry and lemon; nevertheless, green tea, yuzu, and other varieties abound.

Japan’s Beer Gardens

From late May to early September, Japan’s beer gardens open, attracting the weary after-work crowd, party groups, students, families, and others looking to stave off the heat while enjoying a budget-friendly night out. These venues typically offer all-you-can-eat-and-drink options, with beer, barbecue, and buffet food as staples. An all-inclusive evening of food and drinks typically costs between ¥3500 and ¥4000 (around US$32); however, you can opt to pay as you go instead. It’s best not to expect fine dining or, indeed, a garden.

Many beer gardens are found on the rooftops of major department stores and hotels, or within parks. In Tokyo, Forest Beer Garden is a popular spot located in the Meiji-jingu (Meiji Shrine) outer garden. In Kyoto, you can eat and drink below the spire of Kyoto Tower atop the Kyoto Tower Hotel. Elsewhere, inquire around: in Japanese, ‘beer garden’ is pronounced bi-ya gaa-den.

Go North

When the sultry summer air becomes overwhelming, consider heading to the milder climes of Hokkaidō, Japan’s northernmost island. Summer is perfect for hiking one of the prefecture’s multiple mountains and exploring its remote and rugged national parks, many of which are inaccessible during colder months. Iconic spots include Yotei-zan, Rishiri-zan, Daisetsuzan National Park, and Shiretoko National Park, offering a range of outdoor options.

Summer is also when Alpine wildflowers appear, and the stunning flower fields of Furano come to life. At Farm Tomita, the landscape blooms into vibrant ribbons of pink, orange, yellow, and purple from mid- to late July. Alternatively, you could relax in Hokkaidō’s capital, Sapporo, which hosts the Sapporo Summer Festival from late July to mid-August. This festival centres on a beer garden that seats around 13,000 people, featuring traditional dancing, firefly watching, and fireworks.

Climb Fuji

Official climbing season for Mt Fuji runs from July to mid-September. Individuals do climb outside the official season; however, authorities caution against this due to fewer facilities and unpredictable weather. With vending machines at the summit, free Wi-Fi hotspots along the climb, and hundreds of thousands of people ascending and descending the volcano each summer, this is hardly the place for solitude. To avoid the biggest crowds, it’s advisable to steer clear of O-bon week and school holidays, opting instead for a weekday climb. Otherwise, it’s wise to embrace the experience.

This article was originally published in 2015 and was updated in June 2019.