Japan Wonder Travel Blog

What is Japanese Festival, Matsuri? Festivals are something that we all love, enjoy, and look forward to. Each county boasts a range of unique and exciting festivals which are strongly associated with its history and tradition. Japan is also home to impressive festivals, and some of which have a long history of hundreds of years since ancient times. Here we introduce the history and how it all started, and the purpose of festivals in Japan with a list of famous ones that you can join! Origin of festivals in Japan From ancient times, festivals have been strongly associated with people’s lives in Japan. The Japanese word for festivals, matsuri (祭り), originally derived from “祀り(matsuri)”, which has the same pronunciation but means enshrine or worship. Matsuri used to be a ritual for thanking gods and deities in nature. The fundamental concept is called Animism, which is from the Japanese religion shinto that regards the existence of deities everywhere in nature. Many of the tr...