Things to Do in Kansai, Japan
Japan's cultural heart: Kyoto, Nara and Osaka, plus the pilgrim trails and islands of the Kii Peninsula.
361 destinations across 7 prefectures
Festivals in Kansai
Jidai Matsuri
22 October 2026
Kyoto · Float procession
Awaji Island Festival Fireworks
8 November 2026
Hyogo · Fireworks festival
Wakakusa Yamayaki
23 January 2027
Nara · Fire 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
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
Suggested Itineraries
Places to Visit in Kansai
Hannya-ji
The Cosmos Temple on the Old Kyoto Road, with a Kamakura Stone Pagoda in the Middle
A temple on the hill north of Todai-ji, known in Nara as the cosmos temple: about 150,000 cosmos ...
Imai-cho
A Moated Temple Town Turned Merchant Town, Where People Still Live in the Edo-Period Houses
An old merchant town in Kashihara where roughly 1,500 buildings fill an area about 600 m by 310 m...
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...
Jiko-in
A Tea Master's Temple Where the Entry Fee Buys a Bowl of Matcha and a View over the Yamato Basin
A small Zen temple in Yamato-Koriyama built in 1663 by the tea master and local lord Katagiri Sek...
Kairyuo-ji
A Four-Metre Five-Storey Pagoda Kept Indoors Since the Nara Period, Next Door to Hokke-ji
A small temple in the north-east corner of what was Empress Komyo's palace, a couple of minutes f...
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 ...
Kasugayama Primeval Forest
The Old Shrine Forest Behind Kasuga Taisha, and a Stone Road to the 12th-Century Cave Buddhas
The forest on Mount Kasuga behind Kasuga Taisha, kept as the shrine's sacred ground since hunting...
Kimpusen-ji
Yoshino's Zao-do Hall and the Blue Zao Gongen, Shown Only in Spring and Autumn
The head temple of Kimpusen Shugen Honshu, a Shugendo school, halfway up Mount Yoshino. Its main ...
Kitora Tomb
A Small Asuka Tomb Painted with the Four Guardian Animals and a Star Chart, and a Free Museum Where the Real Murals Go on Show
A two-tier round tomb from the late 7th or early 8th century whose chamber was painted with the f...
Koyasan Choishi-michi
The 22 km Pilgrim Path to Koyasan, Counted Down by 180 Stone Markers
The old main pilgrim road up Koyasan, about 22 km from Jison-in in Kudoyama to the Konpon Daito, ...
Kushimoto Turkish Memorial Museum
The 1890 Ertugrul Shipwreck, Beside Japan's Oldest Stone Lighthouse
A small museum on the eastern cliffs of Kii-Oshima about the Ottoman frigate Ertugrul, wrecked on...
Manpuku-ji
Ming Chinese Zen in Uji, With a Monks' Vegetarian Lunch by Booking
Head temple of the Obaku school of Zen, founded in 1661 by the Chinese monk Ingen and built in la...
Matabei-zakura
A Weeping Cherry Said to Be 300 Years Old, on a Stone Wall in Rural Uda, for About Two Weeks a Year
A single weeping cherry in the hamlet of Hongo, Uda, said to be about 300 years old, 13 metres ta...
Matsuo-dera
A Hilltop Temple West of Yamato-Koriyama That Calls Itself Japan's Oldest for Warding Off Bad Luck
A Shingon temple on Mount Matsuo at the south end of the Yata hills, which by its own account was...
Michi-no-Eki Aito Margaret Station
Farm gelato and flower fields in eastern Shiga
A roadside station on Route 307 that grew out of a farmers' market. Come for the gelato made with...