Historical reenactments in Japan
Every historical reenactment (or re-enactment) event in Japan listed on The Muster, from living-history weekends to full-scale battles.
15 events listed, covering samurai history.
October 2026
Sekigahara Battle Festival
Every October, Sekigahara stages the Battle of Sekigahara Festival, the small Gifu Prefecture town's biggest annual event, built around a full-scale costumed re-enactment of the 1600 battle that ended the Sengoku period and opened the way to the Tokugawa shogunate. Known locally as 関ケ原合戦祭り.
November 2026
Hikone Castle Festival Parade
The 73rd Hikone Castle Festival parade crosses the centre of Hikone on 3 November 2026, a public holiday. Known locally as ひこねの城まつりパレード.
Gifu Nobunaga Festival
Each November, Gifu commemorates Oda Nobunaga's 1567 capture of Inabayama Castle - the victory that gave the city its name - with a costumed mounted procession through the city centre. Known locally as Gifu Nobunaga Matsuri.
April 2027
Kawanakajima Sengoku Battle Pageant
≈900 combatants · Samurai
Yonezawa Uesugi Festival
≈700 armored · Samurai
May 2027
Hiraizumi Spring Fujiwara Festival
Hiraizumi's Tourism Association stages a costumed procession re-enacting Ōshū Fujiwara lord Fujiwara no Hidehira welcoming the fugitive general Minamoto no Yoshitsune, alongside Noh performances at Chūson-ji and Mōtsū-ji — the temples at the he… Known locally as 春の藤原まつり (Haru no Fujiwara Matsuri).
Odawara Hōjō Godai Festival
≈1,700 marchers · Samurai
Nagashino Battle-Banner Festival
Samurai
Sendai Aoba Festival
Samurai
Kyoto Aoi Festival
One of Kyoto's three great festivals, the Aoi Festival re-creates a Heian-era imperial rite with a procession of some 500 participants in aristocratic dress, ox-drawn carriages and mounted retainers, travelling from the Kyoto Imperial Palace to the Shimogamo and… Known locally as 葵祭 (Aoi Matsuri).
Sōma Nomaoi
≈400 riders · Samurai
June 2027
Kanazawa Hyakumangoku Festival
≈2,500 marchers · Samurai
August 2027
Kenshin Kōsai — Battle of Kawanakajima
The 101st Kenshin Kosai honours Uesugi Kenshin, the 'Dragon of Echigo', at the foot of Kasugayama, his mountain castle.
September 2027
Kamakura Hachimangu Grand Festival & Yabusame
Tsurugaoka Hachimangū's three-day grand festival, the shrine's most important annual rite, commemorates a purification and archery ceremony first performed in 1187 under Minamoto no Yoritomo. Known locally as 鶴岡八幡宮例大祭・流鏑馬神事 (Tsurugaoka Hachimangū Reitaisai — Yabusame Shinji).
Dates to be announced
These events are known to recur, but there is nothing yet to place them in the year — no announced dates, and no previous edition on record to expect the next one from. They are listed here so they are not lost.
Shingen-kō Festival
≈1,000+ in armor · Samurai