What are the positive impacts of festivals on businesses?

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The Impact of Cultural Festivals on Businesses in Japan



Japan is a country known for its cultural traditions and celebrations. These are often related to the changing seasons. Cultural events play a significant role in Japanese life and so are important to the country’s economy and should inform marketing strategies.


It is crucial that businesses are aware of Japan cultural festivals and events. Sales and marketing campaigns should be tailored to the festivals and planned well in advance. The right strategies can deliver business opportunities in Japan and yield impressive results.

Which cultural festivals take place in Japan?
Matsuri Lantern
There are far too many Cultural festivals (Matsuri (祭)) in Japan to highlight them all here.

But the following are many of the best known festivals and so are worth noting as they could influence Japanese consumer behaviour:


Aoi – known as the “hollyhock festival” but actually a festival of wild ginger that is held in Kyoto in May.


Atsuta – a famous festival of art, dance, food and fireworks hailing the arrival of summer that is celebrated at one of Japan's most venerated shrines in Nagoya.


Awa Odori - a dance festival held from 12 to 15 August as part of the Obon festival in Tokushima Prefecture.


Hakata Dontaku – held 2 – 5 May in Fukuoka during Golden week, the weeklong national holiday. This street festival features as many as 33,000 performers and attracts 2 million people.


Gion Matsuri– one of the largest festivals in Japan, Gion takes place throughout July in Kyoto. It features parades, performances and religious ceremonies. Its original purpose was to purify and pacify entities that cause disease.


Hakata Gion Yamakasa - is an annual festival celebrated 1st - 15th July in Hakata, Fukuoka. It is notable for the floats that are carried around the city. The festival is thought to date back to 1241, when the monk Enni had people carry him around the town on a float, while he was praying for the eradication of the plague.


Hanami – many cities in Japan hold hanami (flower blossom festivals). The dates of these vary according to when the trees blossom. Trees are illuminated at night and the Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival in Aomori is particularly notable, attracting over 2 million visitors each year.


Hōnen – a harvest festival that celebrates fertility that is held in many locations across Japan. The best known of the festivals takes place in the town of Komaki. The festival's principal features are Shinto priests playing traditional music, a ceremonial parade, all-you-can-drink sake, and a wooden phallus.


Jidai Matsuri- is a traditional Japanese festival held annually on October 22 in Kyoto, Japan. It is one of Kyoto's three major festivals and features an historical reenactment parade with people dressed in authentic costumes representing various periods and characters in Japanese feudal history.


Festivals - Drums of liberation
Kanda - Kanda Matsuri is one of the three great Shinto festivals of Tokyo. It takes place over the weekend closest to the 15th of May and includes parades with mikoshi (portable shrines), traditional costumes, musicians, dancers and floats.


Kanto – the Akita Kanto is celebrated 3 – 7 August in Akita City to conjure a good harvest. Celebrants carry bamboo poles bearing lanterns through the streets. This festival dates back to at least 1789.


Kishiwada Danjiri – is a harvest festival held in Kishiwada, Osaka, that involves parading large shrine floats pulled by men. This event dates back to 1703 and is divided into two festivals, the first of which takes place in September and the second in October.


Kumagaya Uchiwa Festival – an annual event that takes place 19 – 23 July in Kumagaya City. 750,000 people participate in a festival that is called Uchiwa because these traditional Japanese fans were distributed to people during the festival in the Meiji era. Floats are pulled through the streets to the accompaniment of gongs.


Nagasaki Kunchi – held 7-9 October in Nagasaki, this festival began as a celebration of harvest and became a shrine festival when Suwa Shrine was founded in 1604. It is said that the event was also held to check for hidden Christians which is why the festival still involves the showing of private gardens.


Nebuta – the Aomori Nebuta Matsuri is a summer festival held in Aomori in August. It attracts more tourists than any other Nebuta festival in Japan. A Nebuta is a float featuring a warrior figure that is carried through the city accompanied by costumed dancers.


Sanja – one of the three largest Shinto festivals in Tokyo, this event is also considered to be one of the wildest festivals in Japan. It is held in honour of Hinokuma Hamanari, Hinokuma Takenari, and Hajino Nakatomo, the three men who established and founded the Sensō-ji Buddhist temple. It takes place in the third week of May.


Sannō – is a shrine festival in Tokyo that is held at Hie shrine in June. It features a procession called Shinkosai in even-numbered years only.


Tanabata – is also known as the Star Festival and celebrates the meetings of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi who are represented by the stars Vega and Altair. Legend has it that these lovers are only permitted to meet once each year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. Hence the festival begins 7 July.


Wakakusa Yamayaki – on the fourth Saturday of January, the dead grass of Mount Wakakusa is burned in a festival held in Nara. The event is thought to have originated in a boundary dispute between temples in 1760. A ceremonial igniting of the fire is followed by a fireworks display.

Yosakoi

Yosakoi – Yosakoi is a form of dance performed at festivals across Japan. The Yosakoi Maturi ghana mobile database takes place in Kōchi in August and features over 10,000 dancers. It is a competitive event with a number of rules that participants must adhere to.







Opportunities to connect with customers
As seasonal events are deeply rooted in Japanese culture, businesses that align their products and marketing campaigns with the festivals can demonstrate cultural sensitivity which is highly valued by Japanese consumers. It is always vital to build emotional connections with potential clients and the festivals provide the perfect opportunities to do that. Seasonal marketing is essential if brands are to resonate with Japanese consumers.


Businesses can connect with communities
Festivals also deliver wonderful opportunities for businesses to connect with local communities. Engaging with events demonstrates commitment to those communities and helps to build lasting relationships that can inspire brand loyalty.