Azabu Juban Festival

Officially this is the Azabu-Juban Noryo Festival. Although “Noryo” means “cooling evening”, this festival held during the last weekend of August in the fashionable Azabu-Juban neighborhood, is all about the food.

There are two basic types of food stalls—stalls from the many and varied members of the local food and hospitality association and stalls hawking produce from throughout Japan. Along with the usual matsuri fare, you’ll have a chance to try local delicacies from Hokkaido in the north through to Kyushu in the south. Additionally, there are lots of the typical festivals stalls and attractions geared towards the kids.

We should also point out that it’s one of Tokyo’s more “trendy” festivals, and the demographic is quite young – including lots of fashionable twenty-somethings and students. The vibe is closer to the “fun” side of the scale than “traditional”, a little more like a hanami party, but with high heat and humidity… and no blue plastic sheets.

(Greg Lane)