Kyoto & Osaka · Hyōgo · Himeji

Himeji Yukata Festival

姫路ゆかたまつり

An early-summer festival held for the annual festival of Osakabe Shrine in Himeji, Hyōgo. People in yukata, light cotton summer kimono, stroll through the old castle town south of Himeji Castle, and stalls line the streets from the shrine to Jōnan Park and the shopping arcades. Held over a Saturday and Sunday in late June.

19–20 June 2027

230 days away

Every year, the first Saturday on or after 19 June, for 2 days

Future dates: 19 June 2027 · 24 June 2028 · 23 June 2029

Origin

Osakabe Shrine is dedicated to Osakabe, the guardian god of Himeyama hill, worshipped there since before Himeji Castle was built and honoured by its successive lords. The festival is said to have begun in the mid-Edo period, when the lord of Himeji, Sakakibara Masamine, allowed townspeople to come to the shrine’s festival in yukata. After the Second World War the shrine’s June rites grew, with the backing of the kimono merchants’ guild, the tourist association and the neighbourhood, into one of Himeji’s best-known festivals. Long held on fixed dates, 22 to 24 June, it has taken place over a Saturday and Sunday since 2023.

What to look for

In the evening the old castle town fills with people in yukata, and stalls and local shops line the streets from Osakabe Shrine to Jōnan Park and the Nishi-Nikaimachi arcade. Late on the first afternoon comes the children’s yukata parade: led by the Himeji Fire Department band, local schoolchildren in yukata walk from Sannomaru Square at Himeji Castle down Ōtemae-dōri and through the arcade to the shrine and Jōnan Park. On both days Jōnan Park has a community stage of songs, dances and drumming.

How to watch

This is the annual festival of Osakabe Shrine, and as the name suggests many people come in yukata. Drones may not be flown around Himeji Castle or the festival area. The streets are very crowded, so do not ride a bicycle through them. When buying from stalls or local shops, the organisers ask you to choose those displaying the official “Himeji Yukata Matsuri partner” sign. There are no bins at the festival, so take your rubbish home, and do not smoke in the streets around it. The festival may be called off in stormy weather; the organisers announce this on an automated telephone line. In rain, the children’s parade takes a shorter route and the stage in Jōnan Park is cancelled.

If you go

If you go, go from late afternoon into the evening. Wear yukata and you get free entry to Himeji Castle and other sights around it. Osakabe Shrine is about 10 minutes on foot from Himeji Station (JR and Sanyō Railway). During the festival the roads around the shrine are closed to traffic from late afternoon into the night, and cars cannot enter or leave car parks inside the closed area while the closures are in force, so the organisers ask visitors to come by public transport. The dates are set by the organisers each spring and announced by Himeji City, along with that year’s yukata offers, so check the city’s announcement.

Where

Osakabe Shrine and Jōnan Park, Himeji

Himeji, Hyōgo

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Sources

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