Event

The Christmas illuminations are centered on Retoro-dori street in front of Yanai Station. During the illuminated period, until December 25, the trees lining the street and Retoro Square (the square in front of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry) will be decorated with lights. In addition, from December 21 to 25 events will be held in the riverside park. (Period of events varies from year to year.)

Yanai’s autumn festival is held every year on November 23 (a National Holiday) in gratitude for the autumn harvest. Events such as the “Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Exhibition” and the “Welfare Market” are held in the area around Yanai City Culture and Welfare Hall, and visitors can sample delicious foods made with local ingredients. In addition, the “Shirakabe Edo Festival” is held in the Shirakabe historic district, with activities such as an archery range and target shooting game. The biggest highlight is the “Hanagasa Odori” (parasol dance) performed along Retoro-dori street, where a competitive performance between parasol dancers unfolds together with the tinkling sound of handbells.

“Yanai Sweets Festival” (also known as the “Factory Festival”) is held every year at the end of October with a Halloween theme. The Kashinoki factory provides a variety of events together with freshly-manufactured sweets, packed with a daily sense of gratitude, for their many customers to enjoy. This lively festival also includes a Halloween costume contest, which a large number of participants dress up for.

Held at Yamaguchi Flower Land. During the Festa, the park’s opening hours are extended to 20:00, and visitors can enjoy the illuminated autumn flower beds and the evening atmosphere.

With Yanai City as both start and goal, this cycling event features a famous Seto-Uchi route, passing through the island of Suo-Oshima in the Seto Inland Sea and crossing the Murotsu Peninsula. The ride is not a timed race; instead, participants enjoy the beauty of the scattered islands of the Seto Inland Sea and the stunning views of mountain foothills while cycling within a time limit. The course offers plenty of variety to ensure participants will never get bored, including the scenic and leisurely coastline as well as more challenging mountain roads, and the hospitality provided by the aid stations is another appealing point.

At this lively festival, portable shrines to a male deity and a female deity are paraded around the town swaying wildly from left to right, and plunged vigorously into the sea from the beach in the evening, when the tide is at full height. The festival is a prayer for abundant fishing hauls, and is said to be one of Western Japan’s strangest festivals. (*The festival may not be held some years. Cancelled in 2024.)

Held every year on the Saturday that precedes September 1, this is the last Bon-Odori (Obon dance) event held in the Yanai region, and is sometimes known as “the final Yukata-wearing event of the year”. With a history of almost 200 years, this dance has long been held on the 210th day after “Risshun” (the beginning of spring), which corresponds to September 1. Since this period is typhoon season, the dance is dedicated to prayers to the god of wind to ward off damage from typhoons.

Hassaku Drifting Boats is an event held at the Yanai River to pray for abundant crop harvest and the healthy growth of female children. School-age girls dressed in colorful yukata robes place their wishes onto “Tanomobune” (“Wish Boats”), which are released to drift on the Yanai River, a scene that is popular with photography enthusiasts.

Held every year on August 13, this is one of summer’s biggest events, based on the motif of Yanai’s folkcraft “kingyo chochin” (goldfish-shaped lanterns). People who return to Yanai for the Obon holiday are welcomed with their hometown’s folkcraft. The festival venue is decorated with goldfish lanterns, around 2,500 of which are illuminated. The gentle light that emanates from the goldfish lanterns creates a dreamlike ambience.
The major highlight is the “Kingyo Nebuta” festival float, which parades majestically, and sometimes boisterously, around the venue. The “Kingyo Chochin Odori” dance, performed by the Ryusenkai group, is also a must-see. Held in the area from JR Yanai Station to Shirakabe historic district (Yanai-Chuo to Yanai-Tsu).