Tenjin Matsuri
25 July 2026 — Glowing boats drift down the river, and their sparks become stars.
Tenjin Matsuri is one of Japan's great summer festivals, often counted, together with Kyoto's Gion Matsuri and Tokyo's Kanda Matsuri, among the three great festivals of Japan. It takes place in Osaka every year on 24 and 25 July and is linked to the Osaka Tenmangu Shrine. The shrine honors Sugawara no Michizane, a ninth-century scholar and statesman who came to be revered as the deity of learning. The festival's origins go back to the tenth century. The main day is 25 July: a procession winds through the streets, and in the evening a flotilla of boats sails along the Okawa River. The boats are decorated with lanterns, and fireworks light up the sky above the water. The date is fixed in the Gregorian calendar, yet the lantern-lit summer night recalls a river of stars. The festival is a tribute to the shrine, the community and a tradition passed down through generations.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver constellation figure made of bright dots and fine lines: a small procession of lantern boats gliding along a shimmering river of stars
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