Traditions of Tokyo
35 traditions tied to Tokyo.
🇯🇵 Ōmuta, JapanKarutaかるた
Japanese playing cards from the 16th century, still raced over poems each New YearGame
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanIkebana生け花
The Japanese art of arranging cut branches and flowers in a vesselPerformance
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 1 moreBonsai盆栽
A Japanese craft of keeping small trees in shallow pots, shaped for contemplationCraft
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanRakugo落語
Japanese solo comic storytelling told from a cushion using a fan and a clothPerformance
🇯🇵 JapanKokeshiこけし
Hand-turned Japanese wooden dolls painted with floral designs and slender facesCraft
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKyōgen狂言
A traditional Japanese comic theatre of short farces, spoken dialogue and satirePerformance
🇯🇵 Aomori, JapanAomori Nebuta Matsuri青森ねぶた祭
A summer festival in Aomori featuring large warrior floats and dancing participants.Festival
🇯🇵 Kyoto, Japan and 4 moreHanami花見
A Japanese spring custom of gathering under blooming cherry trees to eat, drink, and celebrate the fleeting beauty of thFestival · Lunch
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 2 moreTanabataたなばた
A Japanese summer star festival of written wishes hung on leafy bamboo.Festival
🇯🇵 Sapporo, JapanSapporo Snow Festival札幌雪祭り (Sapporo Yuki-matsuri)
A week-long winter festival in Sapporo featuring hundreds of large snow and ice sculptures.Festival
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanShichi-Go-San七五三
A Japanese festival celebrating the growth of three-year-old girls, five-year-old boys, and seven-year-old girls.Rite of passage
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanSetsubun節分
A Japanese ritual of throwing roasted soybeans to banish evil spirits and welcome spring.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanHatsumōde初詣
The first shrine or temple visit of the Japanese New Year to pray for good fortuneSpiritual
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanKoinobori鯉のぼり
Carp-shaped windsocks flown across Japan for Children's Day in springFestival
🇯🇵 Tokushima, JapanAwa Dance Festival阿波踊り
A summer street dance festival held in Tokushima during the Buddhist season of ObonFestival
🇯🇵 Osaka, JapanTenjin Matsuri天神祭
A major Shinto festival in Osaka featuring a street procession and a river boat parade on the Okawa River.Festival
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanSanja Matsuri三社祭
A loud three-day Shinto festival in Tokyo honoring the founders of Sensō-ji temple.Festival
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanKanda Matsuri神田祭
A major Shinto festival with massive parades through the streets of central TokyoFestival
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanJapanese New Year正月
An annual celebration of renewal, seasonal foods, and bell ringing across JapanSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 3 moreObonお盆 (Obon)
A Japanese Buddhist festival honoring the spirits of ancestors through dance, light, and family reunion.Festival
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanDaijō-sai大嘗祭
The emperor's once-in-a-reign Shinto rite of thanks for the rice harvestSpiritual
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 5 moreTaiko太鼓 (taiko)
Japanese drums, and the ensemble style of playing themPerformance
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanJapanese tea ceremony茶道 (Sadō / Chadō), 茶の湯 (Chanoyu)
The formal serving of powdered matcha, shaped by Zen, Shinto and wabiTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇺🇸 Hilo, United StatesMerrie Monarch Festival
A spring week of hula in Hilo, closing with three nights of competitionFestival
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreGo圍棋 (wéiqí), 囲碁 (igo), 바둑 (baduk)
Two players surround territory with black and white stones on a lined boardGame
🇯🇵 JapanJapanese funeral葬儀 (sōgi)
A Buddhist farewell in Japan: a wake, cremation, bone-gathering and a family graveRite of passage
🇯🇵 Takasaki, JapanDaruma doll達磨 (daruma)
A round Japanese wishing doll: fill one eye to set a goal, the other to mark it done.Folklore
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanNoh能 (Nō)
Japanese masked dance-drama, staged since the 14th century in family schoolsPerformance
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 2 moreManeki-neko招き猫
A lucky cat figurine, paw raised, kept by shop doors and in homes across JapanFolklore
🇯🇵 Osaka, Japan and 1 moreBunraku文楽
Osaka's puppet theatre, with chanters, shamisen players and puppeteers in plain sightPerformance
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanShinto wedding神前結婚
A short purification ceremony before the kami, sealed by three cups of sakeRite of passage
🇹🇷 Turkey and 5 moreCoffee culture
The habits and etiquette of drinking coffee, and the cafés built around itTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreYuri's Night
An annual global celebration on April 12 marking milestones in space explorationFestival
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanCulture Day文化の日 (Bunka no Hi)
Japan's 3 November holiday for the arts, learning and the Order of CultureFestival
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanTomimoto-bushi富本節
A subtle school of Japanese sung storytelling with shamisen, popular in the 1700sPerformance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Hatsumōde: KKPCW, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hanami: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Karuta: Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress)., Public domain, source
- Tanabata: Laika ac, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ikebana: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sapporo Snow Festival: Materialscientist, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shichi-Go-San: Bergmann at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, source
- Setsubun: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bonsai: Ragesoss, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Koinobori: 663highland, CC BY 2.5, source
- Awa Dance Festival: Rosino, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Tenjin Matsuri: 663highland, CC BY 2.5, source
- Sanja Matsuri: View_of_mikoshi_from_sensoji_Sanja_Matsuri_2006-2.jpg : * View_of_miko, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kanda Matsuri: Jose Fernando, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Japanese New Year: No machine-readable author provided. Sixgimic assumed (based on copyri, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Obon: Batholith, Public domain, source
- Rakugo: Yuya Tamai, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kokeshi: Kimivanil, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kyōgen: Corpse Reviver, CC BY 3.0, source
- Daijō-sai: Abasaa, Public domain, source
- Aomori Nebuta Matsuri: Fisherman, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Taiko: Ohno.A, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Japanese tea ceremony: Photograph taken by Stephane D'Alu ( en:User:Sdalu ) in April 2004, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Merrie Monarch Festival: Allanbcool, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Go: Goban1, Public domain, source
- Japanese funeral: 夢の散歩, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Daruma doll: Crisco 1492, Public domain, source
- Noh: Yoshiyuki Ito, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Maneki-neko: Su--May, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bunraku: 氏子, CC0, source
- Shinto wedding: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Coffee culture: The original uploader was Hajor at English Wikipedia ., CC BY 3.0 br, source
- Culture Day: Shubert Ciencia, CC BY 2.0, source
- Yuri's Night: Ryan Somma, CC BY 2.0, source