Every year the Takayama Festival (Spring) is held on April 14th and 15th. April 14th is where most of the major festivities are held including the night festival. If you missed the festival on the 14th, don’t fret! You can still see the floats another day. On the 15th, the parade returns to the main shrine and several dances and puppet shows are held throughout the day. Depending on the weather, there are cases where the festival finishes early or is cancelled due to the fragile nature of the floats so please keep this in mind.
How to get to Takayama from Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka
| Boarding Area | Time Taken | Bus Fare | Reservation link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo (Shinjuku Station) | ~7 hours | Adult: 8,000 yen Child: 4,000 yen | Direct bus |
| Nagoya Station | ~2 1/2 hours | Adult: 3,600 yen Child: 3,600 yen | Direct bus |
| Kyoto Station | ~5 hours | Adult: 6,000 yen Child: 2,750 yen | Direct bus |
| Osaka Station | ~6 hours | Adult: 7,000 yen Child: 3,550 yen | Direct bus |
Festival Schedule for April 15th (Tentative)
April 15th: On this day, a procession makes its way back to Hie Shrine where they departed the day before. There are also puppet shows put on through different times throughout the day. At the procession locals dress up in traditional wear and play music as they march back to Hie Shrine. There are also Shishimai (lion) dances that take place in front of the Takayama Historical Government House.
Takayama Spring Festival April 15th Schedule
Note: This is the basic schedule, however often schedules can be completely changed due to weather conditions so pay attention to live updates.
| Marionette Performance #1 | 10:00 AM (around 15 mins) |
| Procession starts (in front of Takayama Historical Government House ) | 12:30 PM |
| Marionette Performance #2 | 2:00 PM (around 15 mins) |
| Procession ends at Hie Shrine | 4:00 PM |
Takayama City decides and has live updates on which events are cancelled the day of found on their Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Takayama Float Locations (for the marionette dances)
*Each float has a unique performance. For example, the Shakkyo marionette includes a lion dance and lion transformation while the Ryujin marionette includes a blast of confetti. Floats in red show which ones are putting on shows.
12:30 PM
Get off at Takayama Nohi Bus Center adjacent to Takayama Station. I missed the lion dance earlier, but the streets were lively with a lot of tourists.
1:20 PM
Around Honmachi street, there are festival food and game stalls selling classic festival foods like chocolate bananas, sugar coated fruits, fried foods and more! Many local children were out with their friends playing games.
Similar to the Ponshukan Sake Museum in Niigata Prefecture, Takayama also opened a sake sample bar located in the souvenir store Maryuhyaku where you can sample 100 different types of the areas award winning sake, which is proudly produced in the area.
1:50 PM
After walking through the main streets and even doing some shopping, people started to make their ways to several different float stalls. I arrived 10 minutes early and was already far behind in the crowd!
Not all Takayama floats have puppets on them–my best advice is to see where the Japanese crowds migrate to (lol). Those with puppets will have a protruding stage in front of it for the doll. Floats with dolls on them are: Ebisu, Ryujin, Sanbasou, Shakkyo, Koukondai.
2:00 PM
The puppet dances start at each respective stall at 2PM and lasts around 15 minutes. This particular float (Shakkyo) was located right in front of the Takayama Municipal Government Memorial Hall. It did some pretty nifty tricks that were totally unexpected.
Hotels/ Lodging
Most guests opt to stay the night in Takayama to enjoy the festival and area at a more leisurely pace. The area is abundant in nature activities, luxurious foods like Hida beef, and natural hot springs. To truly experience the hot springs and hiking, the Okuhida region of Takayama has hiking trails, hot springs, and access to the national park Kamikochi. Next door is also Hida Furukawa famous for inspiring the anime movie, “Your Name” where many people enjoy riding bicycles by the rice fields. Lastly, the Kamioka region is a retro town famous for its outdoor bicycle experience on an old abandoned railway track!
Check more detailed information about the bus routes/ prices in the area: here
