The Furukawa Festival in Hida City, Gifu Prefecture, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage festival and an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan, has been newly certified as a Night View Heritage of Japan (in the Historical and Cultural Night View Heritage category). The certification date is October 9, 2026.
In the 21st Night View Heritage of Japan vote, conducted by the Night View Tourism Convention Bureau (Yakei Kanko Convention Bureau), the festival was selected as one of 14 sites chosen from 171 applications nationwide following a rigorous review. The certification ceremony is scheduled to take place on January 20, 2027 (Wed) in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, at the Yakei Summit in Sendai (Night View Summit in Sendai).
The Appeal of the Furukawa Festival's Yomatsuri Night Festival
The Furukawa Festival is held every year on April 19 and 20. It is a major event in Hida City, known for the powerful Okoshi Daiko (drum procession) and the beautiful, gorgeous yatai (festival float) procession.
The part of the festival that earned particularly high praise is the Yomatsuri (night festival), held on the evening of the second day, April 20. As dusk approaches, many lanterns are lit all at once on each yatai, and the daytime scene is transformed into a fantastical space. Festival yatai, illuminated by lantern light, move slowly through a quiet townscape lined with latticed windows, a sight that gives visitors the feeling of having traveled back in time.
Hida City describes this nighttime scenery as "a treasure that Hida-Furukawa is proud to present to the world" and hopes that many visitors from Japan and around the globe will come and experience the emotion of it.
Setogawa and the White-Walled Storehouse District: Aiming for Certification as a Townscape Night View
Hida-Furukawa, where daily life and tourism coexist, is surrounded by the World Heritage site Shirakawa-go and by Hida-Takayama. Its symbol is Setogawa and the White-Walled Storehouse District (about 500 m in total length), a nighttime scene set in a historic townscape of the clear Setogawa River, where about 1,000 carp swim, and the white-walled storehouses and traditional townhouses (machiya) lined along its banks. Gentle lighting in harmony with the surroundings reflects on the water's surface, creating a tranquil and atmospheric Hida landscape, and its charm is preserved through the ongoing landscape conservation efforts of local residents.
This fiscal year, Hida City started nighttime landscape improvement work on the Setogawa River and the nearby Matsuri Hiroba (Festival Plaza). The city is replacing street lights that softly envelop the historic white-walled storehouses and the surface of the Setogawa River with lighting that suits the townscape, working to make Hida-Furukawa's atmospheric townscape itself a nighttime tourism resource. Going forward, the city aims for the entire Setogawa and White-Walled Storehouse District area to be certified as a Night View Heritage of Japan as a "townscape night view."
Certification Ceremony at the Yakei Summit in Sendai
The official certification ceremony will be held at the "Yakei Summit in Sendai" (Night View Summit in Sendai), where night view tourism professionals from across Japan gather.
- Event name: Yakei Summit in Sendai (Night View Summit in Sendai)
- Date: January 20, 2027 (Wed)
- Location: Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture
Details are available on the official Night View Heritage of Japan website.
Hida City's Plans
Hida City calls the certification a great honor and says it will use the occasion to share the appeal of the fantastical Yomatsuri night festival, held on the second day of the Furukawa Festival, with audiences in Japan and abroad.
The city has also started nighttime landscape improvement work on Setogawa and the White-Walled Storehouse District, the symbol of the town. Beyond the Furukawa Festival, it aims to have this area certified as a townscape night view as well, and will continue to refine the region's nighttime tourism resources.
About the Furukawa Festival, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
The Furukawa Festival is the annual festival of Keta Wakamiya Shrine and takes place every year on April 19 and 20. It consists of solemn Shinto rituals, a mikoshi (portable shrine) procession resembling a historical picture scroll, the "dynamic" Okoshi Daiko, in which hundreds of half-naked men carry large drums through the town, and the "serene" yatai procession, in which gorgeous festival yatai parade through the streets. The Okoshi Daiko and Yatai Gyoji (yatai events) are inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list, and the festival is also designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan.
About the Night View Heritage of Japan
The Night View Heritage of Japan (secretariat: the Night View Tourism Convention Bureau, a general incorporated association) is a program that discovers and certifies valuable night views across Japan as resources, with the aim of promoting night view tourism and revitalizing local communities.
Sites are certified after a rigorous review by specialist night view appreciation experts and a selection committee, based on categories such as Natural Night View Heritage, Facility-Type Night View Heritage, Illumination Night View Heritage, and Historical and Cultural Night View Heritage. Certified sites are branded and promoted in Japan and overseas as outstanding night view resources.
