Things to Do in Kansai, Japan
Japan's cultural heart: Kyoto, Nara and Osaka, plus the pilgrim trails and islands of the Kii Peninsula.
362 destinations across 7 prefectures
Festivals in Kansai
Awaji Island Festival Fireworks
8 November 2026
Hyogo · Fireworks festival
Kasuga Wakamiya On-matsuri
15 to 18 December 2026
Nara · Float procession
Toka Ebisu at Imamiya Ebisu Shrine
9 to 11 January 2027
Osaka · Festival
Wakakusa Yamayaki
23 January 2027
Nara · Fire festival
Kobe Luminarie
29 January 2027 to 7 February 2027
Hyogo · Lantern festival
© ignis / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Omizutori
1 to 14 March 2027
Nara · Fire festival
© J o / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Aoi Matsuri
15 May 2027
Kyoto · Float procession
© 江戸村のとくぞう / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Gion Matsuri
1 to 31 July 2027
Kyoto · Float procession
© 663highland / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5)
Tenjin Matsuri
24 to 25 July 2027
Osaka · Boat festival
Kyoto Gozan Okuribi
16 August 2027
Kyoto · Fire festival
Photo: Idushin at Japanese Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri
18 to 19 September 2027
Osaka · Float procession
© sailko / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Nada Kenka Matsuri
14 to 15 October 2027
Hyogo · Float procession
Jidai Matsuri
22 October 2027
Kyoto · Float procession
Suggested Itineraries
Places to Visit in Kansai
Michi-no-Eki Mizuho-no-Sato Sarabiki
Kyotamba soba and produce on Route 173
Mizuho-no-Sato Sarabiki pairs a produce market with soba made from Kyotamba buckwheat on Route 17...
Michi-no-Eki Woody Keihoku
Woodcraft and local food on the Shuzan road
In Shuzan, north of central Kyoto, Woody Keihoku connects a farm shop and restaurant with the sur...
Ishibutai Kofun
A Bare Stone Burial Chamber in Asuka You Can Walk Into, Widely Thought to Be the Tomb of Soga no Umako
An early 7th-century burial chamber of about 30 huge stones whose earth mound has worn away, leav...
Michi-no-Eki Maizuru Port Toretore Center
Choose seafood for lunch in western Maizuru
Maizuru Port Toretore Center turns a Route 175 stop into a seafood-market visit. Fish sellers can...
Yoshino Mikumari Shrine
Hideyori's 1604 Shrine to the Water God and Guardian of Children, High on Mount Yoshino
A shrine to the god who shares out the water, in the upper reaches of Mount Yoshino and part of t...
Enjo-ji
Unkei's First Signed Statue in a Quiet Hill Temple East of Nara
A temple in Ninnikusen, in the hills east of Nara city on the old Yagyu road, with a late Heian p...
Tachibana-dera
The Temple That Marks the Traditional Birthplace of Prince Shotoku, with a Two-Faced Stone and an Old Pagoda Base
A Tendai temple on the spot where, by tradition, Prince Shotoku was born. The Asuka-period temple...
Michi-no-Eki Nara Rekishi Geijutsu Bunkamura
Watch cultural treasures being restored in Tenri
Few roadside stations let you watch conservators at work. At this prefectural culture village in ...
Yata-dera
A Jizo Temple in the Hills West of Yamato-Koriyama, Under 10,000 Hydrangeas in June
Properly Kongosen-ji, a temple halfway up Yatasan in the Yata hills west of Yamato-Koriyama, know...
Takamatsuzuka Tomb
The Asuka Tomb Whose Painted Women Started an Archaeology Boom in 1972, with a Mural Museum Next Door
A small round tomb from the late 7th or early 8th century where painted murals of court women and...
Yasaka Pagoda (Hokan-ji)
The Five-Storey Pagoda at the End of Kyoto's Most Photographed Lane
A 46-metre, five-storey pagoda rebuilt in 1440 that closes the view down Yasaka-dori. The street ...
Kashihara Jingu
Emperor Jimmu's Shrine Under Mount Unebi, With a Main Hall From the Kyoto Palace
A shrine to Emperor Jimmu, the legendary first emperor, built in 1890 at the foot of Mount Unebi ...
Michi-no-Eki Kitaharima Eco-Museum
A roadside introduction to Nishiwaki and Taka
Kitaharima Eco-Museum is a roadside information and shopping stop for Nishiwaki and Taka. Its mus...
Mount Ibuki
Shiga's Highest Peak, Now Climbed Only From the Toll Road's End
At 1,377 meters, Mount Ibuki is the highest peak in Shiga, known for the wildflower meadows on it...
Mount Katsuragi
A Ropeway Up to the Azalea Slopes of Mount Katsuragi, Above Gose
A 959 m mountain on the Nara-Osaka border above Gose, with a wide grassy summit plateau that turn...