Annual Celebrations
- January 1: Shinnensai (New Year's festival)
- February 11: Kenkoku Kinensai (National Foundation Day)—Anniversary of the day on which Japan's first Emperor, Emperor Jimmu, is said to have founded the Japanese nation.
- February 17: Kinensai (spring festival for harvest)
- April 21–23: Shunki Reitaisai (annual spring festival)
- April 29: Showasai (Showa Festival) — Emperor Showa's birthday
- June 29: Gosoritsu Kinenbisai (Founding Day) Commemoration of the founding of Yasukuni Jinja
- July 13–16: Mitama Matsuri — A mid-summer celebration of the spirits of the ancestors. The entry walk is decorated with 40 foot high walls of more than 30,000 lanterns, and thousands of visitors come to pay respects to their lost relatives and friends.
- October 17–20: Shuki Reitaisai (annual autumn festival)
- November 3: Meijisai (Emperor Meiji's birthday)
- November 23: Niinamesai (Festival of First Fruits)
- December 23: Tenno gotanshin Hoshukusai (birthday of the current emperor)
- The first, 11th and 21st day of each month: Tukinamisai
- Every day: Asa Mikesai, Yu Mikesai, Eitai Kagurasai (perpetual Kagura festivals)
Read more about this topic: Yasukuni Shrine
Famous quotes containing the word annual:
“...there was the annual Fourth of July picketing at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. ...I thought it was ridiculous to have to go there in a skirt. But I did it anyway because it was something that might possibly have an effect. I remember walking around in my little white blouse and skirt and tourists standing there eating their ice cream cones and watching us like the zoo had opened.”
—Martha Shelley, U.S. author and social activist. As quoted in Making History, part 3, by Eric Marcus (1992)