“We’re thinking of going to Takayama in October, but will we even be able to get a room on the festival days?” Every year there are guests who look at the calendar and hesitate in just that way. In fact, we have been receiving inquiries about the autumn festival here at our inn since around spring.

The 2026 Takayama Autumn Festival (Hachiman Matsuri) runs for two days, Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10. From our inn, the festival area is within a 10-minute walk. Your room is close enough that you can watch the evening festival through to the very end and simply walk back.

The Takayama Autumn Festival is the grand festival of Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine. The northern half of the old Takayama castle town is its parish, and the floats travel through those streets.

The dates are fixed at October 9 and 10 every year. In 2026 they fall on a Friday and a Saturday. What’s more, Monday, October 12 is Sports Day, so a three-day weekend begins on the 10th. The second day of the festival overlaps with the first day of the long weekend, making this a year with a favorable calendar.

A Different Festival from the Spring Sanno Matsuri, with Different Floats

Many people picture the spring Sanno Matsuri when they hear “Takayama Matsuri,” but spring and autumn are separate festivals. The tutelary deity is different, the parish towns are different, and the floats that are pulled out are entirely different as well.

The spring Sanno Matsuri has 12 floats, and the autumn Hachiman Matsuri has 11. Together, there are 23 floats in the town of Takayama.

All of them are National Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties, and as the “Float Events of the Takayama Festival” they were designated a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1979, and in 2016 they were inscribed as one of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage “Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals.”

Even for those who have seen the spring festival, everything in autumn will be new. And the same is true in reverse.

Because the Dates Are Fixed, It Becomes a Scramble for Rooms

The fact that the dates don’t move also means that “the people who want to stay on those days” concentrate on the same two days every year.

There aren’t a great many accommodations in Takayama. The festival weekend in particular fills up at an early stage. This year as well, we had already been receiving October inquiries back in spring.

To be honest with you, for these two days it’s safest to approach it with the attitude that “it would be a miracle if anything were open” and secure a room! While you’re hesitating, it may be gone.

Of the 11 floats, Hoteitai stands within the grounds of Sakurayama Hachimangu, and the remaining 10 line up along the main approach.

The carvings, the rear curtains, the structure of the wheels. When you stop close by and look carefully, you can really see how fine the work of the Hida craftsmen is.

Hoteitai’s Karakuri Dedication (Twice a Day)

At the autumn Takayama Festival, the only float that performs a karakuri dedication is Hoteitai.

Two karako puppets cross a pole and leap over to Hotei, and Hotei gives a single sweep of his war fan — written out it is only a few lines, but seeing the puppets move as if alive, controlled solely by the hands of the tsunakata, actually draws a sound out of you. It takes about 50 minutes.

The dedication takes place twice a day: at 12:00 and 14:00 on the 9th, and at 11:00 and 13:00 on the 10th. Crowds gather intensely at these times, so we recommend securing a spot a little early.

The Gojinko Procession and the Float Parade

The Gojinko is a festival procession in which the divided spirit of the deity travels through the parish towns. Guarded by lion dancers, tokeiraku performers, and guards in kamishimo formal dress, it advances slowly to the tones of gagaku and daidai kagura.

The times are 13:20 to 15:30 on the 9th, and 8:30 to 12:00 and 13:30 to 16:00 on the 10th. On the 10th it travels the entire parish from morning until close to evening, so you can encounter the procession anywhere in town.

And there is one more event, unique to the autumn festival and held only on the afternoon of the 9th: the float parade. Not all 11 floats, but 4, are pulled through the town. Kaguratai and Hoootai go every year, and the remaining 2 are decided by lottery. In other words, which floats move changes from year to year.

The “Evening Festival,” Lit by More Than 100 Lanterns

The evening festival is held only on the night of the 9th. The time is 18:15 to 20:30.

Floats lit with more than 100 lanterns travel slowly through the darkened town. The impression changes so much that you wouldn’t think they were the same floats you saw in the daytime. Light reflecting off the metal fittings, and the swaying rows of lanterns. The air in Takayama becomes clear at night in October, so the light looks all the more beautiful.

On the way back, each float returns to its own float storehouse while singing the parting song “Takai Yama.” Walking to the inn while listening to the sound of the festival coming to an end is, personally, my favorite time of all.

The Luxury of Being Able to Go Back Once You’re Tired

During the festival period, Takayama’s city streets and parking lots get quite crowded. Even those who come by car end up walking after they park.

Our inn is within a 10-minute walk of the festival area. You can drop off your luggage and head straight out, and when you get tired of the crowds you can go back once to rest and then head out again.

The day we especially recommend is the 9th.

See the karakuri and the Gojinko during the day, go back once in the evening for a break, and then head to the evening festival after dark — being able to move this way also makes sightseeing easier when you have small children with you. It’s a way of using your time that day-trippers and bus tours simply cannot manage.

Autumn in Takayama Is Cold Morning and Night: Clothing and What to Bring

Takayama in October is a place with a large temperature gap between daytime and morning/night. Even if you can walk without a jacket at midday, you will definitely be cold in the same outfit during the evening festival.

• Something to layer that you can adjust between day and night (a lightweight down jacket or fleece gives peace of mind)
• Comfortable walking shoes. Over the festival period you’ll walk a considerable distance in two days
• A folding umbrella. Because the floats’ lacquer and metal fittings are vulnerable to rain, depending on the weather they may not be pulled out
• A mobile battery if you’re thinking of shooting photos at night

The advantage of the inn being close applies here too. You don’t have to carry heavy clothing when you go out in the morning — you can just go back in the evening and change.

There is something we tell people every year who say “neither the 9th nor the 10th works for our schedule” or “the three-day weekend is too crowded, we’d rather avoid it.” Takayama’s festival isn’t something that exists only on the festival days.

At the Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall, You Can Meet Real Floats Any Time of Year

At the Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall within the grounds of Sakurayama Hachimangu, 4 of the 11 autumn floats are always on display, exactly as they are. They rotate three times a year, so which floats you can meet changes depending on when you visit.

On festival days you view the floats across a wall of people, but at the hall you can see them up close and, moreover, at your leisure. Each individual carving, the metal detailing, the embroidery on the curtains. It can also be used as a place to check the answers to “what was that thing I saw at the festival?”

Open year-round, from March to November from 9:00 to 17:00. It is within walking distance of the inn.

Before and After the Festival, the Time When the Town Is Most Like a “Festival Town”

From about half a month before the festival, the air in town starts to change.

Each float group begins preparing the decorations at its float storehouse, and locally this is called “yatai yawai.” Around the same time, the sound of festival music practice starts drifting in from somewhere. Walking through town in the evening, flute and drum come flowing out from the depths of the alleys. When this sound begins, the people of Takayama think, “it’s come around again this year.”

On the night of October 7, the Shigakusai and the float order lottery festival are held, and the floats that will parade two days later are decided.

It is a night with a quiet tension, different from the heat of the main festival.

Even after the festival is over, if you pass in front of the float storehouses scattered throughout the town, you can tell that the real thing is stored inside.

Tall white-walled doors that you would walk right past if there were no sign. Those are all float storehouses.

Because a three-day weekend begins on the 10th in 2026, one option for those who want to avoid the crowds is to aim for the 7th and 8th, or from the 13th onward. A quiet Takayama with the afterglow of the festival still lingering makes for a fine trip too.

※ For detailed festival times and events, please see the official Hida Takayama website.

The evening festival ends, and the floats return to their storehouses singing “Takai Yama.” The flow of people slowly unravels, and the town regains its quiet.

At that hour, instead of hurrying to the station, you can walk 10 minutes and return to your room. The meaning of coming to stay overnight for the Takayama Autumn Festival is, most likely, right there.

The 2026 Takayama Autumn Festival is Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10. As written at the beginning, rooms for these two days fill up at an early stage every year. For those who have decided to come, the best thing is to secure a room while the calendar still has openings.

Even for those for whom the festival days are difficult, the atmosphere of the festival still properly lingers in Takayama before and after.

We sincerely look forward to your visit.