Takayama Festival (spring)
14 April 2026 — A somersault in the sky! The karakuri puppet greets Takayama and you!
The spring Takayama Festival, held in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, is part of the wider Takayama Matsuri. It takes place on 14 and 15 April and is linked to the Hie Shrine; the autumn edition is held on 9 and 10 October. At its heart are magnificent carved festival floats called yatai, decorated with lacquer, gold and delicate woodwork and pulled through the old town streets. Some carry karakuri, traditional mechanical puppets worked with strings and levers, which perform graceful moves and acrobatic tricks such as a somersault. In the evening the floats are hung with many paper lanterns and glide slowly beneath the dark sky. The festival follows fixed dates in the Gregorian calendar and welcomes the arrival of spring. It is inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity together with other float festivals of Japan. Please check dates and details on the official website before travelling.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver figure made of luminous dots and connecting lines like a constellation: a tall carved festival float with tiered roofs, and a small puppet on top that tumbles in a graceful somersault
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