Rainy and humid June is the calm before summer’s event storm. Tokyo is relatively quiet compared to May’s slew of blooming flowers and July’s fireworks season. Still, that doesn’t mean that June doesn’t have its share of events, the best of which we’ve compiled here.

For the top events in Tokyo throughout the year, check out our complete guide — organized by month.

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1. Torigoe Festival

June 7–9
Torikoe Shrine, Taitō
Featuring the largest portable shrine in Tokyo

torigoe matsuri
Things really kick off at night during the Torigoe Festival. | Photo by Grigoris Miliaresis

The Torigoe (also spelled Torikoe) Festival is a Shinto festival that involves a procession. It’s much smaller in scale than the major festivals, but rowdy and crowded nonetheless. What sets it apart is that it features the largest mikoshi (portable shrine) in Tokyo — the four-ton Senkan-Mikoshi.

On Sunday (the main day of festivities), processions start as early as 6:30 a.m. and last well into the night (to around 9 p.m.). You’d be mistaken to think that the festivities taper off in the evening, because that’s actually when the festival becomes even more spectacular. Lanterns are illuminated and hung on the Senkan-Mikoshi for the miya-iri, the return ceremony.

2. Hydrangea festivals

Throughout June
All over Tokyo
Hydrangeas are beautiful, especially in light rain

hydrangeas in bloom
The famous early summer flower. | Photo by Getty Images

Rainy season may be a mood-killer for many, but it also welcomes some of the most famous flowers on Japan’s calendar: ajisai (hydrangeas). There are many festivals in and around Tokyo. Here are some highlights:

3. Tsukiji Lion Dance Festival

June 10–15
Namiyoke Inari Shrine, Tsukiji
See a parade of giant lion heads

The lion protector at Namiyoke Shrine. | Photo by iStock/tanukiphoto

What makes this festival different from all the other mikoshi (portable shrine) processions is the giant lion heads that are carried beside the shrines. The main event takes place on the Sunday.

Street stalls will be buzzing throughout the weekend, and there will be a small festival on Friday too. See our event listing below for the full schedule.

4. Firefly festivals

June–July
All over and around Tokyo
Family fun with extra special lights

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Light it up. | Photo by iStock.com/Diana Radicchi

Light up the start of your summer. June is mating season for fireflies, so this is the time to see the little bugs aglow. We’ve got a compilation of Tokyo firefly festivals, but note that some of the locations are not in central Tokyo. After all, you can’t really expect to see too many fireflies in this urban jungle. Here are some highlights:

5. Candle Night for 1 Million People

June 20
Zōjōji Temple, Shibakoen
Switch off the lights and turn on the candles

See more than 1000 candles at Zōjōji Temple near Tokyo Tower. | Photo by Oisix Ra Daichi

During the summer solstice each year, the lights of Tokyo Tower and buildings close to Zōjōji Temple are switched off for two hours and hundreds of candles are lit. This is to encourage thoughts about how we can best protect the earth and the people in it.

Stalls and kitchen cars will be open at the temple on the day, but the lighting of the candles won’t start till around 6 p.m. and the lights won’t go off till 8 p.m.

6. Vietnam Festival

May 31–June 1
Yoyogi Park, Harajuku
Sample the very best phở in Tokyo

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There are a lot of international festivals this month in Tokyo — see the Philippine Expo and Taiwan Festival for more — but the Vietnam Festival will be one of the biggest. Around 200,000 visitors attend each year to try the food (expect phở and bánh mì) and see the artists on stage at Yoyogi Park.

7. Tokyo Pride

June 7–8
Yoyogi Park, Harajuku
Expressing what it means to be LGBTQ+ in Tokyo

Photo by Getty Images

For 2025, Tokyo Pride has been moved to June to coincide with Pride Month — but you can still expect the parades and vibrant festivities we’ve come to love. The main festival will take place on both days in Yoyogi Park Events Square, and the fabulous parade will commence on Sunday at noon from the same spot before heading around Shibuya.

8. Oku Asakusa Bon Odori Festival

June 28
Sumida Park, Asakusa
Get in the mood for summer

Bon Odori are traditional dance events that take place in Japan every summer. You’ll see a lot of festivals popping up around July and August, but this is one of the earliest in the city. Created to celebrate the area of Oku Asakusa, the festival involves anyone and everyone forming a dance circle around a yagura (a decorated scaffold), which usually holds a taiko drum on the top.

While we do our best to ensure it’s correct, information is subject to change. Post first published in May 2016. Last updated in May 2025 by Alex Ziminski.

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