Namba Square in Osaka welcomes performers from across Japan this October, as "SHiNWA ni Negai wo — Craft the Future" takes over the plaza from Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 4, 2026. The event lets visitors see, taste, learn about, and touch traditional culture from around the country, right in the middle of Namba.
The event grew out of "SHiNWA no Shinwa," a Shinwa Holdings project that supports people's dreams and wishes. This time, the company is backing the dream of a woman named Yui: to travel around Japan's traditional culture and share it with more people. Yui applied after meeting practitioners on her travels who told her things like "there's no one to pass this on to" and "I'm the last one," and wanting to spread the word about both the appeal of these traditions and the struggles facing the people carrying them forward. Shinwa Holdings is helping make that happen by having Yui visit traditional-culture sites around Japan to interview practitioners and experience the culture firsthand, while bringing a taste of what she's found to Namba Square for everyone else to see, learn about, and try.
The lineup brings together Namahage Taiko drumming from Oga, Akita; Noh performed by the Konparu school, one of Noh's oldest schools with roughly 1,400 years of history; and daikagura acrobatics and lion dance carried on in Osaka for around 400 years.
On the Namba Square Stage
Performers dressed as Namahage beat taiko drums in the middle of Namba, and Konparu school performers present a Noh piece with its traditional movement and staging on full display. Daikagura acts, including lion dance and umbrella-spinning, round out the lineup, with a parent and child who currently carry on the art together also taking the stage.
Noh — Friday, October 2, 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM
Namahage Taiko — Friday, October 2, 5:00 PM; Saturday, October 3, 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM
Daikagura (lion dance, umbrella-spinning) — Sunday, October 4, 12:00 PM, 3:00 PM, and 6:00 PM
Each day's stage also features additional acts: Awa Odori dance and wadaiko drumming on October 2; Awa Odori, wadaiko, and Eisa dance on October 3; and shamisen and Awa Odori on October 4. Stage performers and set times are subject to change without notice.
Regional Food and Drink
Chefs from Hotel Plaza Kobe recreate regional dishes from around Japan at the event's food stalls, including Okinawa soba from Okinawa, Towada barayaki from Aomori, and meat-wrapped kiritanpo from Akita, each finished with the hotel's own seasoning, alongside drinks to enjoy with the food.
Food and drink are available Friday, October 2 from 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM, and Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4 from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Workshops and Craft Sales
Visitors can try traditional craft techniques under an artisan's guidance and take home their own creation, alongside a sales area for crafts and other culture-related goods. Kyoto's Kojima-an is running a painting workshop for its small round "chibi-maru" paper lanterns, where visitors decorate their own lantern with markers and a patchwork of colored paper. The sales area features artisans and instructors exhibiting and selling traditional crafts.
Workshops and craft sales run Friday, October 2 from 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM, and Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4 from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
About Yui
Yui's wish, as she described it in her application, was to travel around and share Japan's traditional culture with as many people as possible. On a trip the length of the Sea of Japan coast, she encountered many different traditions and saw their declining state firsthand, and had long wondered if there was something she could do. When she came across a post about the "SHiNWA no Shinwa" project, she decided to apply.
"What I learned through the encounters on my travels is the reality that there are things you want to preserve but can't," Yui said. "Learning that techniques and feelings passed down over many years are disappearing because of a lack of successors, I came to want to carry that precious spirit forward to the next generation. Old things carry not just beauty but also the warmth of the people and nature behind them, and their history — which is exactly why I want to pass that beauty on to the future. And I find it deeply saddening that techniques passed down through the years are lost simply because there's no one to inherit them.
"While cherishing the history and feelings you can't see, I hope this event becomes a place where I can share that appeal with even one more person, and a chance to help pass it on to the next generation."
On her hopes for the event, Yui added: "Thanks to so many people, the feelings I've carried through my travels are about to take shape, and I'm full of excitement and nerves. Through my encounters with tradition and culture, I came to feel that people have lived alongside nature, making use of its blessings, and I became interested in the appeal of that. I'd be happy if the people who take part in this event come to feel closer to these crafts and traditions, and if the memory becomes a spark of interest for them."
Event Overview
- Event name: SHiNWA ni Negai wo — Craft the Future
- Dates: Friday, October 2, 2026, 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM; Saturday, October 3, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM; Sunday, October 4, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
- Venue: Namba Square (entire plaza), Osaka
- Organizer: Shinwa Holdings Co., Ltd.
