What to do and see in Osaka Prefecture, Kinki: The Best Events

The Inagawa Fireworks Festival is held over the Inagawa river. For the occasion, stands and food stalls are erected, giving the entire area a cheerful atmosphere as friends in yukata share shaved ice and fried noodles. When nightfall comes, the summer sky is lit up by rockets, and those who came early to reserve their seats are rewarded with a brilliant view.

A "homemade" fireworks festival that was started in 1989 by local volunteers who loved the Yodogawa River. Today it is held on the Shin-Yodogawa River in early August every year and is a tradition of summer in Osaka. The collaboration of fireworks exploded under the surface of the river and Star Mines launched high into the night sky, and the dual performance of light and sound as multiple shakutama fireworks are launched all at once and synchronized with music make a wonderful sight. Also popular is a segment of novelty fireworks that make strange shapes or scatter in all directions.

The first festival of Ebisu, it takes place around January 10th and is intended to pray for prosperity in business. In the case of Imamiya Ebisu Shrine in Osaka it is held on January 9th to 11th, and is famous for the lucky charm known as Fukuzasa. The small charms you attach to the Fukuzasa are also known as kiccho and include koban coins, sea bream, straw rice bags, eboshi (headgear worn by nobles), and mallets. Also drawing big crowds is the "Hoekago Parade," in which geishas and famous entertainers ride in "hoekago" (palanquins) along with the shout of "Hoekago-hoekago, Eraiyatcha-eraiyatcha."

The festival floats and drum floats used as an offering in festivals are called danjiri in western Japan, and "Danjiri Matsuri" is a collective term for festivals that use them. Particularly famous is the Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri, in which danjiri, some weighing up to 4 tons, are decorated with carvings, paper lanterns, and banners and vigorously hauled through the streets. It is known as a boisterous festival, but the intensity and flamboyance captivate tourists. In the old days, it was held during the eighth month of the traditional Japanese calendar, but since 2006, it has been held on the Saturday and Sunday before Respect for the Aged Day (the third Monday in September).

The Tenjin-san is an extraordinary local flea market, held in and around the Tenmangu Shrine. Featuring over 1,000 stalls selling locals wares and second-hand goods ranging from antiques to kimono, the market has a cheerful energy to it. Locals especially enjoy the many food carts with fresh fruit, vegetables, and seafood, along with those that offer seasonal and hot dishes for sampling in between perusing wares. Held on the 25th of each month, the atmosphere is family-friendly and warmly inclusive.

A fireworks festival that decorates the finale of the Tenjin Festival at Osaka Tenmangu Shrine, which can boast more than 1,000 years of history. From two locations alongside the Ogawa (formerly Yodogawa) River - Sakuramiya Park and Kawasaki Park - about 4,000 fireworks are launched and color the night sky. Particularly popular are such unique items as the Plum Blossom, symbolic of Tenmangu Shrine, that opens the display and fireworks that spell out letters. Also the light of the fireworks glittering on the surface of the Ogawa River and the fleet of Funatogyo boats is magical.

One of Japan's leading fireworks displays that takes place every year on August 1st in the grounds of the Church of Perfect Liberty in Tondabayashi City, Osaka Prefecture, this ceremony is one of the festivals honoring the outstanding virtue of the cult's first and second-generation gurus. A wide variety of types of fireworks launched in a stunning structure and production is truly a luminary work of art. Highlights include shakutama fireworks launched simultaneously from multiple places and the thousands of fireworks decorating the night sky in the finale.

This event is held every year on July 31st in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture at Ohama Park, and it is emblematic of summer. It is said to have originated from a fish market that stood along the Ohama coast when, as part of the Nagoshi Harae purification ceremony, local fishermen would make offerings of fish before the altar while the portable shrine was carried in a procession to Shukuindo Tongu Shrine in Sakai. Though it has been halted by wars and other adverse circumstances, this traditional event dates to the Kamakura period, continuing for more than 700 years. The lively auctions that start at 7:00 PM are popular, and the rows of night shops and company booths are crowded with as many as 200,000 visitors in a typical year.

Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri is a lively festival in which participants haul danjiri decorated with carvings, paper lanterns, and banners, some of them weighing up to 4 tons. Its origins go back to 1703 (Genroku 16), when it is said that the feudal lord at the time prayed at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto for a bountiful harvest. It is generally considered a September festival, but it is also held in October. The difference between the two is the areas in which they are held, with the "September Festival" mainly held in the seaside area of Kishiwada, and the "October Festival" held mainly in mountain-side area.

This festival is held at Tenmangu shrines all over Japan, and most shrines hold the festival some time around the 25th to coincide with anniversary of the death of Sugawara no Michizane, to whom the they are dedicated. The Tenjin Matsuri at Osaka Tenmangu Shrine is particularly famous, and it is counted among the three great festivals in Japan (the other two are Kyoto's Gion Matsuri and Tokyo's Kanda Matsuri). Though it has been cancelled or postponed due to plagues and wars any number of times, it has been carried on for more than 1,000 years since 951 (the middle of the Heian period), and in modern times it is still held every year on July 24th (festival-eve vigil) and 25th (at the main shrine). The nighttime ritual at the main shrine, called the Festival of Fire and Water is a particular favorite of locals, with a procession of boats decorated with illuminated paper lanterns along the Okawa River (formerly the Yodogawa River) and a dedicatory fireworks display.