Higashiyama Onsen Bon Odori

Higashiyama Onsen Bon Odori

The Higashiyama Onsen Bon Odori, a traditional summer dance festival, restarted in 2024 after a five-year absence and is typically held Friday to Monday on the first weekend of August.

The festival involves long snaking lines of people dancing to the traditional song 'Aizu Bandaisan', which anyone can join since the dance only involves a few steps. The song is played from a 14-metre-high wooden watchtower built once a year in the Yukawa River below, adorned with over 1,000 lanterns.

The history of the festival traces back to 1944, when it was designed to cheer up children evacuating to a ryokan in Higashiyama Onsen during the war.

The onsen town is also worth a visit the rest of the year and makes an excellent base for exploring the samurai city of Aizu-Wakamatsu.

Venue Details

Venue Details
Best Season
  • Summer
ParkingFree; no cost for shuttle bus
Access Details
AccessHigashiyama Onsen, Aizu-Wakamatsu City
View directions
Getting there

By Public Transport: Shuttle buses run regularly from Aizu Buke-yashiki and Higashiyama Public Parking Lot during the festival

By Train: Aizu-Wakamatsu Station is about 1hr from Koriyama Station (so 2hr 15m from Tokyo)

Useful Links

Learn more about Higashiyama Onsen

Nearby

The World Glassware Hall
Cultural Experiences

Mitsutaya

Mitsutaya is a speciality restaurant with roots dating back to the end of the Edo Period (around 1835). The restaurant is situated in a renovated miso storehouse. It is therefore fitting that the restaurant is famous for a local Aizu meal called 'miso dengaku'. Miso dengaku refers to skewered vegetables and meat which are topped with a miso paste before being cooked over an open flame. The skewers are cooked one by one. Skewer ingredients include konjac, deep-fried tofu, sticky, savory rice balls called 'shingoro mochi', and more. Each small dish is coated in miso for an unforgettable and savory flavor.  

The World Glassware Hall
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Aizu Painted Candles Craft Experience

Aizu Erosoku (painted candles) are sumptuous items that were long-prized among samurai families. Delicate and vivid patterns such as chrysanthemums, plum blossoms, and peonies are painted onto candles made of natural Japan wax extracted from the fruits of lacquer trees. Each candle is still painstakingly painted one by one, and they serve as regal decorations in Shinto and Buddhist ceremonies and weddings. A candle painting experience is available at Ozawa Candle Shop (Reservation required).
The World Glassware Hall
Cultural Experiences

Ride the Oza-Toro-Tembo Train

The Oza-Toro-Tembo Train is a limited-service sightseeing train which is operated during selected days of the peak tourist seasons. The train has three carriages - the oza carriage (which has a tatami-floor), the torokko (tram) carriage, and the tembo (observation deck) carriage. Stretch out and relax in the tatami carriage with its sunken kotatsu (heated table) in autumn, take in Aizu's nature and air from the tram carriage, and revel in the fantastic scenery that await you through the expansive windows of the observation deck carriage. The train runs along the Aizu Railway tracks, meaning you can hop off at various points to visit places such as Ouchi-juku (a 15 minute taxi ride from Yunokami Onsen Station), and To-no-Hetsuri Crags, among others. For information about when this train runs this year, please check out this link (Japanese).

Discover Aizu Area

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