Nagoya Festival

名古屋まつり

Nagoya’s biggest autumn festival, centred on a parade in which the three great warlords, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, march through the city with their armoured retinues, followed by floats with mechanical puppets and cars dressed in flowers. It began in 1955. Usually held on the third Saturday of October and the Sunday after.

16–17 October 2027

351 days away

Every year, the 3rd Saturday of October, for 2 days

Future dates: 16 October 2027 · 21 October 2028 · 20 October 2029

Origin

The festival began in 1955, as the city rebuilt after the war, growing out of a trade fair held the year before. It drew on the floats and processions of the Tōshōgū Festival, the greatest event of the Edo-period castle town, whose floats were lost in the air raids of 1945. Since 1973 the three warlords have been played by members of the public. Cancelled years are counted, making 2026 the 72nd festival.

What to look for

The draw is the warlords’ parade: Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu with their three ladies (Nōhime, Nene and Senhime), armoured warriors and attendants, some 400 people in all (2025). A children’s fife and drum corps leads, Ieyasu’s contingent brings up the rear, and battle scenes are staged at crossings. The warlords are chosen from the public each year; the warriors are soldiers of the Ground Self-Defense Force. Behind them come the dashi floats, a city-designated cultural property, whose mechanical puppets perform on top, shrines for kagura sacred dance, and cars dressed in fresh flowers.

How to watch

There is no reserved seating: watch from the closed-off road and pavements. Mats, folding chairs, saving a spot with your belongings, tripods, selfie sticks and drones are not allowed, and keep out of the planted beds. The parade is cancelled in rain.

If you go

The festival grounds are in Hisaya-ōdori Park, near Sakae and Yabachō subway stations, and the parade route changes from day to day. In 2025 it left Nagoya Station at about 1:40 p.m. on Saturday the 18th and City Hall at about 10:50 a.m. on Sunday the 19th, both days by way of Sakae to Yabachō. The dashi and kagura floats came out only on the Sunday, when, according to the organisers, 780,000 people turned out. In 2026 there was no parade, as the dates clashed with the Asian Para Games. There is no parking.

Where

Hisaya-ōdori Park

Nagoya, Aichi

Open in maps

Sources

← All festivals