Celebrate the Port of Yokohama, Fireworks, Blossoms, and More at Festivals Throughout the Year!

Published：8/12/2025

Yokohama is a vibrant, electric city where there is always something happening to entertain visitors. The city’s dynamic attraction started when it became the first port in Japan to open to foreign trade in the 19th century. The city also entertains with grand fireworks, dazzling seasonal celebrations, beautiful nature spectacles, and other exciting events that bring people to Yokohama all year round. No matter what time of year you choose for your visit, you’re bound to feel connected to Yokohama’s history, culture, and unique character. So, for MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention, and Event/Exhibition) participants, regardless of when your event is held, you can always be sure you will be visiting the city at the right time!

Summer: The Yokohama Port Opening Festival

The opening of the port of Yokohama over 160 years ago set the stage for the development of the city that we know today. As travelers and traders from all over the world arrived in this gateway to Japan, bringing with them new ideas and technologies, Yokohama became an exciting hub where diverse cultures mingled and influenced each other—a characteristic of the city treasured to this day.

 

Since 1981, the Yokohama Port Opening Festival has been an annual celebration of this momentous historical event. Back then, the festival was called the Yokohama Dontaku, from the Dutch Zondag (Sunday), a name that connects the city to its international heritage. Typically held in early June, the festival never fails to draw hundreds of thousands of people.

The overarching theme of the Yokohama Port Opening Festival is “Thanks to the Port” with various subthemes that change yearly. It typically includes singing, dancing, live performances by famous artists, and a traditional Chinese lion dance, with performers from Yokohama’s Chinatown entertaining the crowds in fantastic, colorful lion costumes. This celebration is a citizens’ festival and would not be possible without the robust support of local Yokohama businesses and individuals. Celebrating the city’s past through the people who embody its present, always with an eye toward the future, the Port Opening Festival is a journey into the very soul of Yokohama.

Summer: Fireworks Displays

In Japan, fireworks as entertainment first appeared in Japan during the Edo period (1603—1867) when artisans figured out how to use gunpowder to create stunning—albeit not very colorful—displays in the sky. It would be a couple more centuries before the rainbow-colored fireworks of today would light up the skies over Japan. But as early as 1875, foreign trade brought new chemicals to Yokohama for the production of matches and the like, and these chemicals quickly proved useful in the creation of Japan’s first colorful fireworks. In 1877, these Western-style fireworks were set off at Yokohama Park, and in 1879, a dazzling display greeted the then US president Ulysses S. Grant.

While fireworks festivals in Japan are usually held in summer, you can experience them year-round in Yokohama with the Yokohama Night Flowers fireworks display.

These short fireworks displays, mainly held on weekends, can best be enjoyed from the picturesque Osanbashi and Shinko Piers.

Autumn and Winter: Fall Foliage, Oktoberfest, the Christmas Market, and More

There is no better way to kick off autumn in Yokohama than by celebrating its abundant natural beauty at the tranquil Sankeien Garden, where ginkgo and maple trees turn the 175,000-square-meter grounds into a harmonious composition of gold and red. These colors are also on display in the beverages served at the Yokohama Oktoberfest held outside the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse,  a historic European-style building that hosts a variety of cultural events. Lasting well over two weeks, the festival offers an atmosphere like that of the Munich Oktoberfest.

The Red Brick Warehouse is also prominent as a scenic backdrop for the Yokohama Marathon held in late October. As the year progresses, more events take place at the warehouse, such as the Christmas Market, which kicks off in late November with holiday food and souvenirs. Also not to be missed is the site’s bright, beautiful winter illumination that lights up Yokohama in an otherworldly, electric glow.

The illuminations often continue until the following year, coinciding with Yokohama’s celebration of the Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival. From late January to early February, this massive celebration in Yokohama’s Chinatown includes lion dances, lantern shows, and plenty of scrumptious food.

Spring: Flower Power

In spring, when many flowers and plants start to bloom under a clear sky, Yokohama becomes an enchanting rainbow of blue, green, and other mesmerizing colors. The cherry blossoms, which herald the end of winter, are probably the most popular attraction but are just one of Mother Nature’s many displays that Yokohama is famous for. Garden Necklace Yokohama is an ongoing project to promote Yokohama as a “garden city,” with gorgeous flowers and lush plants everywhere from urban centers to secluded nature oases.  Yokohama will cement its legacy as a garden city in 2027 when it will host The World Horticultural Exhibition, also known as GREEN×EXPO.

In 2022, Yokohama celebrated the 110th anniversary of its gift of 3,000 cherry trees to Washington, DC. The trees were planted in a spot that is now arguably the most famous for viewing cherry blossoms in the US, as well as the site of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The trees remain to this day a symbol of friendship between the US and Japan. The idea was the brainchild of writer Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, who lived at times in Yokohama and is interred at the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery. The Scidmore Cherry Blossom Festival, held from March to April in Yokohama’s Minato area, pays homage to this fascinating person who built a bridge of flowers between two nations.

Finally, the Minato Mirai Bon Odori Festival is a fun event with dancing, drums, and stall food held in August at Yokohama’s Rinko Park, honoring ancestral spirits believed to return home for the Obon holiday, and marks a return to summer.

Yokohama for All Seasons

To find out more about Yokohama’s seasonal celebrations, visit the Yokohama Official Visitors’ Guide Event page.

Be sure to also check out the following sites for more information about events mentioned in this article: