Spring

Cherry Blossoms of Shingu (Tankaku) Castle Ruins （ ）

Late March - Early April

A very popular cherry-blossom viewing spot in Shingu where the Shingu (Tankaku) Castle Ruins are stained in a wonderful pink. If you climb up to the castle tower base, you can see the Shingu's downtown area across the cherry blossoms. There are around 250 cherry trees on the premises, and lanterns are suspended during cherry-blossom season for visitors to enjoy at night.

Summer

Ogitate Fan Festival （ ）

July 14

This festival is held annually at Kumano Hayatama Taisha Grand Shrine. They stand the national treasure ceremonial fan in the shrine at 6pm to pray for national security, a disease-free year and family well-being. At night, shop stalls will line up the precincts to sell food and other wares, which is also a famous part of the largest summer festival in the Shingu area. Many worshipers come to visit dressed in Yukata to enjoy the cool breezes of the summer evening.

Kumano Jofuku Manto-sai Festival （ ）

August 12-13

A ceremony to remember the virtues of Jofuku, who was said to have arrived about 2200 years ago. The fireworks festival is held at Kumano-gawa riverbed using approximately 5000 fireworks, like the Water Star Mine and the Niagara amongst others. It is the largest fireworks display in the Shingu area, and always brings in huge crowds every year.

Miwasaki Hachiman-Jinja Shrine Annual Festival （Kujira Odori) （ ）

Mid September

The Kujira Odori, or Whale Dance, is performed at the Hachiman-Jinja Shrine in Miwasaki every year to pray for a big catch. This culturally significant festival has been performed for the past 300 years, and is a component of the "Life with Whales" whaling culture recorded as a Japanese Cultural Heritage piece in this region.

Autumn

Kumano Hayatama Taisha Grand Shrine Annual Festival / Mifune Matsuri Festival （ ）

October 15-16

This is one of the annual festivals held at Kumano Hayatama Taisha Grand Shrine, where a beautifully decorated Shinko ship leads nine other vessels in a race around the island. It is famous as the first ship festival in Nanki, and was designated as a Nationally Significant Intangible Folk Cultural Asset together with the Oto Matsuri Festival of Kamikura-Jinja Shrine in 2016.

The religious ceremony is done at Kumano Hayatama Taisha Grand Shrine and the Holy Spirit is transported by the portable shrine, Omikoshi.

The Omikoshi is placed on the red Gokosen ship, circling around Mifunejima Island three times before coming back to shore.

Winter

Oto Matsuri Festival （ ）

February 6

This festival is held at Kamikura Jinja Shrine, where men garbed in white wound with rough rope run down the steep stone steps with lit wooden torches in the dark. Many tourists visit from all over the country to see the courageous men participate in this festival of fire. The yearly marvel has inspired a saying in Shingu; "The Oto Matsuri Festival is truly a man's festival, a mountain with a waterfall of fire, a cascading dragon".

The pilgrimage road of Kamikura-Jinja Shrine looks like a river lit aflame.

Before making the ascent to Kamikura-Jinja shrine, the participants visit and pray at Kumano Hayatama Taisha Grand Shrine.

Through early morning purification of the body, the participants pray for the successful completion of the festival.