10 Events in Hokuriku That You Shouldn't Miss

Hokkoku Fireworks Kanazawa, held in the Ishikawa Prefecture Mameda Kan'i Grounds, features a variety of fireworks, including starmines and trick fireworks. The finale, a wild fusillade of 1,000 starmines and other fireworks in quick succession, is a must-see. The festival also offers an "supporters' zone" that allows those who have supported the festival to get a closer view of the fireworks.

The Fushiki Hikiyama Festival, also known as "Fight Mountain," is a yearly spring festival held on 5/15 at Hikiyama Shrine. The hikiyama (festival float) during the day are decorated with flowers, and at night the floats are decorated with a huge number of paper lanterns. The main highlight of the event is the kaccha, in which 6 floats covered in paper lanterns are rocked violently and crashed into each other to the beat of taiko drums and hayashi (Japanese orchestra) accompaniment. On 5/14, the eve of the festival, the flower-decorated floats will be lined up for an illuminated display.

The Mikuni Fireworks festival has a history reaching back to before WWII, and is held annually on the Mikuni Sunset Beach on August 11. The display boasts the full-impact splendor of no. 20 (12-Inch diameter) fireworks shells, set piece fireworks and chrysanthemum bursts, with a total of around 7,000 fireworks that paint the night sky in majestic colors. The chief highlights of the event are the water-level fireworks, which are lit on the boat and hurled towards the water, exploding in a wonderful semicircular shape against the horizon. Aside from the area around the beach, the fireworks can also be witnessed from the area around the Kuzuryu River Boat Park on the opposing shore.

The Owara Kaze no Bon is a folk rite that has been passed down through the generations by residents of the Yatsuo area in Toyama. It is believed to trace as far back as the Genroku era (1688-1704). Dancers in traditional straw hats parade around town, dancing to the tune of a traditional song. While this event is very local in nature and not intended for export, the lovely dancing ladies and the proud dancing men are a moving sight. For this reason, 250,000 people visit between September 1 and 3.

The Shobuyu Matsuri festivals in Kaga Onsen, Ishikawa are held during the Boys' Day celebration, which takes place in early June of the lunar calendar. The festivals serve to ask the gods for a year of sound health. Of these, the most renowned is the Yamashiro Onsen Shobuyu Matsuri. On the first day of the festival, young men walk through the hot-springs district, carrying portable shrines made of straw bales with irises inside. The irises are later thrown into Yamashiro Onsen. The scent of irises fills the town this night, and visitors can enjoy baths with iris petals throughout at hot-spring inns throughout the village.

This festival is held in late September at Yamanaka Onsen in Kaga, Ishikawa. During the day, portable shrines for young men and the women who work at the hot springs patrol the town, and a giant traditional lion's-head costume is paraded throughout the city. At night, locals and tourists alike flock to the Yamanaka Theatre at the center of town to dance and sing the traditional songs of Yamanaka. The event is also host to a lacquerware flea market. This normally sedate hot-springs town becomes quite a bustling center of activity for these two days!

The Takaoka Mikurumayama Matsuri is a regular spring festival that is held annually on 5/1 at the Takaoka Sekino Shrine in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture. The most historic dashi-matsuri (float festival) in the prefecture, special floats called mikuruyama - nationally designated as Important Tangible and Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties - are paraded around the city to hayashi (Japanese orchestra) accompaniment. These must-see floats are among Japan's best, gorgeously decorated with refined traditional techniques in lacquering, goldsmithing and dyeing that have been passed down in Takaoka since the Azuchi-Muromachi period (1558-1600). 7 Such floats - constructed by master craftsmen of the Edo period - can be seen in all their splendor. On the eve of the festival, a few of the floats will be illuminated for a pre-festival display.

The Jantokoi Uotsu Matsuri Sea Fireworks is a continuous 40-minute display full of chrysanthemum-burst fireworks launched from two barges in the waters of Uozu Port. There are no obstructing buildings in the vicinity of the festival grounds, making for an easy viewing environment. At first the fireworks display was a separate event, but it is now held on the second day of the Jantokoi Uotsu Matsuri.

The Sanno Matsuri is a regular spring festival held every year from 5/31-6/2 at Hie Shrine in Toyama, Toyama Prefecture. Lovingly referred to as "Sannosan," this festival is the largest in the city, with an attendance of over 200,000 every year.