Story Hiroshima: Seasonal Event by JNTO on 04 January 2018

Depending on when you visit, Hiroshima has no shortage of interesting events, whether you’re into food, sports, or flowers.

Oyster Festival

Hiroshima is famous for its oysters, and from mid January through to the end of February, many port cities along the coast hosts its own oyster festival – these free-to-enter events are where you can get quality oysters at a bargain. It’s usually a large street food fair, where you can get oysters cooked in all manner of styles, from deep-fried to grilled and in hotpot stews.

The biggest event is the Miyajima Oyster Festival where amidst traditional drumming and kagura masked performances, you can get juicy oysters at very reasonable prices.

Cherry Blossom Viewing

Hiroshima’s sakura (cherry blossom) season generally falls in early April. The most famous location for sakura viewing is on Miyajima, a small island not far from Hiroshima that’s famous for its shrine and "floating" torii gate. The 1,300 cherry trees around the shrine can be appreciated along its walking trails.

In the city, Hiroshima Castle is another popular site, with cherry blossoms set against the backdrop of the castle keep. Shukkei-en is a small traditional Japanese garden complete with koi pond set in the middle of the city and makes a great place to view cherry blossoms well into the night. For a small fee, you can partake in the Kanou Chakai in April, a cherry blossom viewing tea ceremony held in a traditional tea house.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp Game

Baseball is incredibly popular in Japan, especially in Hiroshima, where the local team – the Hiroshima Toyo Carp – has a huge and devoted fanbase. You can watch a baseball game at the Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium, during the pro baseball season from March to November. Carp fans are known to be cheery, and beat a short plastic bat to encourage players at designated Performance Seats. During games, you can snack on a special menu produced by the players, including the popular Carp Noodles and crab-flavored Makkani Potatoes. Seats range from ¥1,700 (infield) to ¥8,000 (center dugout seats).

Hiroshima Flower Festival

The annual Hiroshima Flower Festival takes place in early May, coinciding with the Golden Week holidays. This is when the Peace Boulevard is closed to traffic and given over to this huge carnival which draws over a million people every year. There will be a flower float parade, stage performances, a yosakoi dance festival (with 100 participants), as well as nighttime light ups at the Peace Memorial Park.

Toukasan Yukata Festival

The traditional Toukasan Yukata Festival (early June) marks the start of summer, when most locals start donning their yukata (summer kimono) for the warmer months ahead. The event is centered around the Peace Boulevard and Enryu-ji Temple, where 450,000 people typically come to receive their blessings over the 3 days of the festival. Most of the action happens in the evening with taiko drumming and bon dance performances, and participants play festival games like fish scooping.