Festival
Pick Up Stories
Chasing the Dragon – The Naha Haarii [Festival]
The Naha Haarii Festival will happen during Golden Week from May 3-5 from 10:00 ~ 20:15 every day at the Naha New Port. Tens of thousands of...Read More
Golden Week, Japan’s Mega Holiday [CULTURE Family Festival]
Spring is here. And in Japan that means warmer weather, cherry blossoms, and rainy season. But, before the rainy season takes hold and shrou...Read More
Ie Island Easter Lily Festival [Festival]
April 27th marks the start of the 27th Annual Yuri Matsuri, the Ie lsland Lily Festival, showcasing more than one million teppoyuri’s, or Ea...Read More
Music festival ends whale watching season [Festival]
Many events and activities take place on Zamami Island between December and March as the island accommodates visitors on whale watching tours, and that includes the Whale Music Fes...
Mofu Mofu Festival ready to save animals’ lives [Festival]
A festival created to raise funds to save animals is mixing music and entertainment Saturday with the good Samaritan elements of an animal protection charity event. The Mofu Mofu F...
International Movie Festival rebrands to entertainment [Festival]
The 7th Okinawa International Movie Festival is debuting next week under a brand new title; the five-day affair is now the All Islands Okinawa Festival. The festival opens March 25...
Moon Beach hosting 22nd Yachimun Fair [Festival]
The annual All Yachimun Chinaware Market is designed to offer quality products aimed at just about every conceivable taste, and in every price range. The 22nd Yachimun Fair opens t...
Ti-da blog celebrating 10th anniversary with party [Festival]
The “Ti-da Blog”, the best known and largest blog service in Okinawa, is now a decade old, and is celebrating this weekend at Uminchu Wharf. Ti-Da, which opened in 2005, means “Sun...
Nakagusuku Castle Ruins entertains Gusuku Rock Fes [Festival]
Gusuku Rock Fes 2015 is set for a 14-hour production at the world heritage site of Nakagusuku Castle Ruins, on Saturday, Mar. 21st. This event is an open stage rock festival made u...
Chuo Park Avenue goes green for St. Patrick’s Day [Festival]
The 9th Saint Patrick’s Day 2015 and the 14th Kanaderu Park street music program take center stage Sunday as Okinawa tests the mystic power of the Green, and the luck of the Irish....
Nago hosting Katsuyama Shiquasa Flower Festival [Festival]
The 11th Katsuyama Shiquasa Flower Festival is more than simply flowers and food, as organizers are ready to show visitors a pair of Nago area mountains to hike this weekend. The c...
Azaleas now sporting their brilliant colors in Higashi [Festival]
Fifty thousand azaleas are beginning to show their colors in northern Okinawa, only weeks after cherry blossoms made their 2015 debut. Azalea, the delicate flower called ‘royalty o...
International festival features foods, music [Festival]
The 25th Okinawa City International Exchange Festival is set to entertain this weekend at the Ichibangai Shopping Mall area in Okinawa City. Admission is free for the International...
Weekend Sakurazaka Asylum music festival hits Naha [Festival]
The 8th Sakurazaka Asylum 2015 is bringing an estimated 100 Okinawan, mainland Japanese and international artists and musicians to Naha Saturday and Sunday. The festival is a new s...
Sakura lure visitors, and then the festival begins [Festival]
The 53rd Nago Sakura Festival is in full swing this weekend, with visitors having the chance to play, see and do more than just gaze at the colorful pink cherry blossoms in Nago’s ...
Okinawa City showcases its products at festival [Festival]
The island’s second most populous city is gearing up for its annual industrial festival, planning to share with everyone on the island what Okinawa City has to offer. The 38th Okin...
A&W hosting custom car & hot rod show [CURRENT ISSUE Festival]
Okinawa meets Americana Sunday as A&W Okinawa Makiminato stages its 5th annual Drawing and Hot Rod & Custom Car Day. The Drawing and Hot Rod & Custom Car Day runs 10 a....
Sakura festivals quickly coming into bloom [Festival]
The annual ritual of treks to northern Okinawa to see the unfolding of traditional Taiwan cherry blossoms on slopes of forests is under way, with thousands of people –and almost as...
Citrus picking part of northern produce fair [Festival]
The 24th Ogimi Village Produce Fair gets under way Saturday with visitors having the chance to take a walk in the forest and participate in ‘Kuganii’ citrus picking. The Ogimi Vill...
Taro potato giant hosts industrial fair [Festival]
The 25th Ginowan Sangyo Fair, better known in English as an industrial fair, runs this weekend at Ginowan City, with an accent on taro potatoes and goats. Admission is free for the...
Cherry blossoms to open in northern Okinawa [Festival]
The 8th Nakijin Castle Cherry Blossom Festival is little more than a week away at the Nakijin Castle Remains in northwest Okinawa. The earliest cherry blossom festival of the seaso...
Chura Sun Beach illumination leads to countdown [Festival]
Santa’s made his appearance, and now Chura Sun Beach is using its illumination as the prelude to the New Year’s countdown on December 31st. The Chura Sun Beach illumination highlig...
Annual Christmas Fantasy delights at Okinawa Zoo [Festival]
By Bill Charles Snowflakes aren’t actually forecast to fall over Okinawa this holiday season, but the Christmas Fantasy being staged at Okinawa Kodomono Kuni, the Okinawa Zoo, is p...