Japanese Festival Words: Matsuri, Hanabi and Yatai

Matsuri are not all the same event

Festivals can be connected with local religious traditions, seasons or historical events. Some are neighborhood gatherings, while others fill a much larger area. A fireworks display and a shrine procession are different kinds of activities, even when both happen within a festival.

Use the event’s own description to understand what is being celebrated. The words in this guide help you read that description; they do not replace the specific schedule or instructions for an actual event.

• Source: JNTO: Local Japanese festivals

Read the words in a summer scene

花火 (はなび, hanabi) means fireworks. 提灯 (ちょうちん, chouchin) means lantern, and 踊り (おどり, odori) means dance or dancing. 太鼓 (たいこ, taiko) means drum. Say the words while identifying those features in a picture.

花 means flower and 火 means fire, but 花火 is the complete word hanabi. Do not assume that combining the standalone readings hana and hi gives the spoken word unchanged. Readings can change inside compounds.

Yatai can depend on context

At a food area, 屋台 (やたい, yatai) commonly means a stall. In some festival names and traditions, the same word refers to a festival float. The surrounding description tells you which meaning is intended.

For example, JNTO’s description of the Takayama festival uses yatai for its elaborate floats. Remembering that second use helps you avoid interpreting every occurrence of 屋台 as a place to buy a snack.

• Source: JNTO: Takayama festival floats

Practice a stall order

If you are pointing to a food item, say これをひとつください (kore o hitotsu kudasai), “One of these, please.” To ask the price first, say いくらですか (ikura desu ka). These simple phrases are useful beyond festival settings too.

For a reading check, match はなび to fireworks, たいこ to a drum and ちょうちん to a lantern. Then describe a festival photograph using only the words for features actually present, rather than assuming that every scene must have the same collection of objects.