Meiji Jingu's autumn grand festival is three mornings of rites, 1 to 3 November 2026, and a public afternoon of yabusame on the west approach. The shrine's event page names 1 November as 鎮座記念祭, the day the shrine was dedicated in 1920, and 3 November as 例祭, Emperor Meiji's birthday. 崇敬会 posted the 2026 viewing list on 7 September. The 10:00 rites are for members who applied by 20 October. The 奉祝行事 are 陪観自由, weather permitting. November gates run 06:10 to 16:10. If you stand at the Harajuku torii at 13:00 you miss the horses.
The 10:00 rites are a member seat
崇敬会 splits the three mornings by prefecture. Sunday 1 November, 10:00, 鎮座記念祭, for members from Chiyoda, Minato, Shinjuku, Taito, Koto, Meguro, Ota, Setagaya, and Saitama. Monday 2 November, 10:00, 第二日の儀, for Shinagawa, Nakano, Suginami, Toshima, Itabashi, Nerima, Adachi, Tama, the islands, and Chiba. Tuesday 3 November, Culture Day, 10:00, 例祭, for Chuo, Bunkyo, Sumida, Shibuya, Kita, Arakawa, Katsushika, Edogawa, Kanagawa, and everyone outside Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Bring the autumn 代々木 bulletin and the 参列券. Family supporting members bring the membership card. The form closed 20 October. You cannot walk in as a tourist and sit the rite.
JAPAN 47 GO updated the same 1-3 November window on 29 September and pointed back at meijijingu.or.jp/event/. If a blog lists a different hour, keep the 崇敬会 page. A court envoy attends 例祭. That is a shrine fact, not a ticketed show.
Watch from the west lawn
The free programme sits on the shrine stage and the west grass. 崇敬会 says rain can stop 陪観. Treat that as a real cancel, not a delay.
- 18 October, 13:00. Tanka contest at Sanshuden. Lead-in, not the grand festival itself.
- 31 October, 11:00. Bugaku on the shrine stage. Same weekend as the scramble's Halloween night. The shrine is a different job.
- 1 November, 12:00 and 15:45. Hogaku and buyo, then sankyoku, shrine stage.
- 2 November, 11:45. Noh and kyogen, shrine stage.
- 3 November, from 09:00. Kyudo at Shiseikan's second range. Aikido on the west lawn. Kobudo at 10:00. Momote-shiki at 11:00 east of the treasure hall.
- 3 November, 13:00. Yabusame on the west approach lawn. This is the photograph everyone wants.
- 3 November, 15:00. Satsuma biwa at Gehaiden. Gates close 16:10. There is no evening encore.
大日本弓馬会 lists 明治神宮流鏑馬神事 on 3 November, Tuesday holiday, at Meiji Jingu. 崇敬会 puts the clock at 13:00. A horse runs the track. A rider in hunting dress looses a 鏑矢 at a wooden target. Stand back from the rope. Do not cross the approach while a horse is on it.
Harajuku is the postcard. Yoyogi is the door.
The south approach from JR Harajuku and Meiji-jingumae is the walk on every postcard, about ten minutes to the hall. Yabusame is on 西参道. JR Yoyogi, Toei Oedo Yoyogi, Odakyu Sangubashi, and Metro Kita-sando are the useful stations that afternoon. JAPAN 47 GO lists each at about ten minutes. Yoyogi Park's west side dumps you onto that approach without the Harajuku queue. If you already walked the park for Earth Garden on 24-25 October, you know the fence line. The shrine forest is the next gate, not a second stage of that market.
Goshuin at 長殿, 09:00 until close. No running in the trees. No food except marked spots. Cars enter from the Yoyogi gate only. The inner garden, 御苑, is a separate paid walk with its own hours. That is not this festival. Phone 03-3379-5511 if a typhoon sits on the Tuesday.
Leave the scramble out of this weekend
Halloween at the crossing is 31 October, the night before bugaku. The ward already bans street drinking 18:00 to 05:00 around the station, Center-gai, and Miyashita Park. Do not treat the shrine forest as a costume walk-off. Meiji Jingu Gaien ginkgo is the outer-garden avenue on the Shinjuku side of the stadium. Different map. Bunkamura's closed halls stay closed. If you want a slope after the horses, Dogenzaka is the named street west of the scramble, shops and 109, not the shrine.
Full timetable sits on the event page. Member forms are closed after 20 October. Public viewing needs no ticket. Check weather the morning of the 3rd. If 崇敬会 cancels 陪観, the horses do not run for cameras.
Practical Details
- Dates: 1-3 November 2026, Sunday through Tuesday holiday
- Yabusame: 3 November, 13:00, west approach lawn
- Gates: 06:10-16:10 in November
- Venue: Meiji Jingu, 1-1 Yoyogi Kamizono-cho, Shibuya-ku
- Nearest station for 13:00: JR Yoyogi, Odakyu Sangubashi, or Kita-sando. Harajuku for the south approach only
- Price: Free to watch 奉祝行事. Member rites needed a form by 20 October
- Website: 崇敬会 令和8年 秋の大祭案内
- Shrine calendar: meijijingu.or.jp/event
- Facts hub: Event page
