Osaka has various seasonal events, holidays, and festivals for visitors and locals alike to enjoy. Here is a list of some of the events in Osaka throughout the year. This is not a comprehensive list of all holidays, but just those that may impact or interest visitors.
Jan. 1 New Year's Day
O-sho-gatsu (in Japanese) is the most important holiday in Japan. Most businesses are closed until Jan. 4, and the streets become as quiet as a ghost town. Everyone is crowded around the Shinto shrines, praying for a prosperous year, and spending quiet time at home with their families. {By the way, "Happy New Year" is A-kay-mashi-te O-medi-toe in Japanese}
Jan. 9-11 Ebisu Festival
This huge festival is when Osaka's merchants pray for good business in the coming year, and is a must-see if in this merchant town at this time. It is focused on/around Imamiya Ebisu Shrine near Namba, which houses Ebessan, the diety of commerce, who is one of the seven gods of good fortune. Thousands of food & game stalls line the streets around the shrine, making this a great chance to take pictures and see an important local cultural celebration.
Jan. 15 Coming-of-Age Ceremony
This national holiday marks adulthood for those who turn 20 during the year, and is celebrated with speeches at all the town halls. Young ladies dress up in colorful kimono for this event, which makes for great photo opportunities if you happen to come across them.
Feb. 3 Setsubun
This is not a national holiday, but a cultural event in which dried beans are thrown at bad luck, in the form of a paper red-devil mask. While doing this people say "Out with bad luck, In with good luck!", and then eat the number of beans for their age, plus one more for good luck.
Feb. 14 Valentine's Day
On this day it is the women who give chocolate to men, including to male co-workers (called giri-choco, given out of duty not love). This is later balanced out when men give women white chocolate or candies on Mar. 14, called White Day.
Mar. 3 Hina Matsuri Doll Festival (Girls Day)
On this special cultural day families honor their daughters by putting up dolls representing the Imperial court.
March Ume Plum Blossoms
The seasonal blooming of plum trees in the parks is a sign of the coming spring, but unlike cherry blossoms in April, these are enjoyed without the picnics (still too cold!).
Mar. 14 White Day
As a harmonious counter-balance to Valentine's Day, on this day it is the men who give white chocolate or candy to the ladies who gave them chocolate on Feb. 14.
Mar. 14-28 or so Osaka Spring Grand Sumo Tournament
This two-week tournament, held at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium near Namba, is one of 3 held outside of Tokyo each year. Tickets can usually be purchased on the morning of the day. It is quite common to see quite large lower-ranked wrestlers walking around the Namba area during this time.
April Hanami Cherry Blossom Viewing Party
People everywhere enjoy the beautiful yet short-lived sakura cherry blossoms by eating & drinking (& maybe singing karaoke!) under the cherry trees. Every park has dozens of groups picnicing, but Osaka Castle Park is one of the main parks for Hanami. The Osaka Mint (near Temmabashi subway station) opens its gates free to the public for one week to see the hundreds of different kinds of cherry blossoms on its grounds.
April 29 to May 5 Golden Week holidays
This is a string of national holidays (with two regular days mixed in) when transportation and attractions can be crowded with people out enjoying the good weather and time off. May 5 is Boys Day, in which families celebrate their sons by hanging colorful carp streamers from their balconies.
May 3-4 Takatsuki Jazz Street Festival
As the name says, this event in nearby Takatsuki city features literally dozens of jazz bands (ranging from high school groups to world-renowned musicians) at venues all over town, from parks to churches to coffee shops to pubs, and all for free! Takatsuki is about half way between Osaka and Kyoto, and accessible on both JR and Hankyu train lines at Takatsuki station. It starts around noon, and goes until 8 or 9pm both days.
mid-June to mid-July Rainy Season
Although it usually doesn't rain ALL day long, it does rain most days (often just lightly), so of course people carry (and lose!) their umbrellas.
July 24-25 Tenjin Matsuri
This is THE main festival for Osaka City, held near Temmabashi on the purple Tanimachi subway line, and should not be missed if in town at this time.
- There is no main stage or 'center of the action' at Tenjin Matsuri........it's more like a county fair with literally thousands of game booths and food & drink stands lined up along both sides of the O-kawa river for about 2 km. It doesn't really get going until dusk though, after work.
- There are some ceremonies at the nearby Temmangu Shrine, but the main thing to do is just walk around eating and drinking! No need to be shy about taking pictures of all the beautiful ladies dressed up in colorful yukata, which is a kind of summer kimono. The young girls are especially cute and usually don't mind being photographed, as this is a see-and-be-seen type of festival!
- The main attraction, other than the big fireworks display around 8pm on the second night, is all the boats cruising up and down the river, full of people playing music and singing. Most of them are sponsored by companies and community organizations, but there are some places along the river where you can pay (about 3000 yen) and take a cruise for a short time.
- One final note: expect hot & muggy weather, so dress comfortably and get one of those (free) paper fans that everyone uses!
early August Fireworks festivals
Summer hits top gear with dozens of fireworks events shooting off thousands of colorful hanabi, as it's called in Japanese. These crowded festivals with hundreds of food stalls are held in the evenings at various places throughout the summer, with the main one for Osaka being along the Yodogawa River, usually during the first week of August.
Aug. 13-15 Obon
These are not national holidays, but an important Buddhist occasion when many people return to their hometowns to honor their ancestors and visit their families, so travel is busy during this time.
Sept. 14-15 Danjiri Matsuri
This exciting festival in Kishiwada (near the Kansai Int'l Airport) features huge, elaborately carved wooden floats, which are pulled by hundreds of men at high speeds through narrow crowded streets! This famous festival is worth plunging into the crowds to experience firsthand. Sometimes foreign visitors are invited to join the pulling when it slows down, especially in the evening when the floats are decorated with traditional paper lanterns.
mid-Oct. Midosuji Parade
This large city parade features hundreds of floats & marching bands traveling north to south down Osaka's main Midosuji boulevard, usually on the second Sunday, nearest the 10th. Anywhere between Umeda and Namba is good to watch from.
Oct. 31 Halloween
This (American) cultural event is not celebrated with trick-or-treating or much of anything in Japan, yet everyone knows it and plenty of candy gets sold in shops full of pumpkin decorations. Some western bars & clubs will have costume parties on the nearest weekend.
November Fall Colors Viewing
In this season people enjoy taking walks in parks & forests to enjoy "koyo", the fall colors changing on the maple trees. The park and waterfall at Minoo, to the north of Osaka at Hankyu Minoo station, is one popular place for this, and sometimes gets wild monkeys around.
Dec. 25 Christmas
This is a normal working day, not a national holiday in Japan, and also not so much a religious holiday as a splash-out date for young couples, and the shops are filled with the usual seasonal decorations. Kids in Japan look forward to Santa's visit like children elsewhere. The Nakanoshima area near Yodoyabashi subway station has a "Renaissance of Light" promenade, and the Umeda Sky Building has a German Christmas market for traditional holiday atmosphere.
Dec. 31 New Year's Eve
This is generally a quiet, stay-at-home-with-family and watch the countdown on TV kind of night in Japan. Some people may visit their local neighborhood shrine or temple at midnight. For those wanting to celebrate, most western-style bars, nightclubs, and major hotels will have the usual champagne countdown party. On this night alone most trains run all night long rather than stopping around midnight.
