The first day of Takayama Spring Festival

The Spring Takayama Festival, or Sanno Matsuri, is an annual festival of Hie Shrine and celebrates the coming of spring. The festival parade is held on the south side of Yasugawa St, bordering Takayama's Old Town district. There are 12 yatai (festival floats) in the area, and they are paraded around all at once.

The Takayama Spring Festival, held every year on April 14 and 15 in Takayama city, needs a disclaimer to protect its reputation as one of Japan’s most beautiful festivals. First, you might have seen promotional photos or posters showing beautiful floats against the background of blooming cherry blossoms. In fact, it is only on very rare occasions that those cherry blossoms, fast asleep, awaken in time for the festival. Takayama’s winter is bitterly cold and snowy, and in a regular year, cherry blossoms bloom in late April. Count yourself lucky, then, if you are visiting this year. Thanks to an unusually warm winter, cherry blossoms here are forecast to be in full bloom around mid-April.