Akita Kanto Festival 2026

“Kanto” refers to the festival held every year from August 3rd to 6th in Akita City, Akita Prefecture, as well as the bamboo poles and lanterns used during the event. The festival’s official name is the Akita Kanto Festival.
The entire kanto pole symbolizes a stalk of rice, while the rows of lanterns represent bags of harvested rice. Performers balance them on their foreheads, hips, and shoulders as an act of prayer for a bountiful harvest.
The festival is designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property and is considered one of the Three Great Festivals of Tohoku, alongside Aomori’s Nebuta Festival and Sendai’s Tanabata Festival.
It is also one of the Three Great Lantern Festivals of Japan, along with the Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival (Fukushima Prefecture) and the Owari Tsushima Tenno Festival (Aichi Prefecture).
Until the year 2000, the festival was held from August 4th to 7th, but because its schedule overlapped with other Tohoku festivals, it was moved one day earlier in 2001.
The festival was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, despite restrictions such as a ban on chanting, it was held for the first time in three years.
Since 2023, chanting and other traditions have returned, marking the first fully normal festival in four years.

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