Asakusa Samba Carnival

Asakusa, Japan

Asakusa Samba Carnival Tokyo is a Brazilian Carnival celebration with Samba parades in the middle of Japan.

Information

LOCATION

Japan, Tokyo

DATE

Saturday, August 30, 2025

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When is the Asakusa Carnival 2025?

The Asakusa Samba Carnival in 2025 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 30, 2025. This vibrant festival typically occurs on the last Saturday of August and features energetic samba performances, colorful costumes, and a lively atmosphere that attracts spectators from all over Japan and the world.

Where is Asakusa Carnival?

The street Kaminarimon Dori is the place to be to not miss any of the action, and yes everyone knows it! You’ll have to be fast if you want to find a good place to watch the parade.

On this same parade street is the famous Sensoji Temple and taking photos in the carnival parade with this iconic background temple has become something iconic, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

If you want to see them more closely the best thing you can do is go to Umemichi Dori. This is the official start of the carnival parade route. While you may miss some choreography because the parade has not officially started when they leave Umemichi Dori, you are able to approach the dancers and take some pictures with them.

Carnival in Japan!

Did you think that Japan didn’t celebrate carnival? Maybe Japan isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of carnival, but carnival is a global phenomenon that reaches all parts of the world! The Asakusa Carnival in Tokyo is one of the very few carnivals in Asia!

Tokyo throws a carnival celebration that cannot be missed and today the Asakusa Carnival has an attendance of about one million people!

Asakusa Samba Carnival Origins

From Brazil to Japan

The Asakusa Carnival was imported from Brazil in 1981 out of necessity to revitalize the Japanese district and boost the economy. They invited Brazilian samba groups to perform, who accepted their invitation and unknowingly laid the first stone of a carnival that has continued to get bigger and better each year.

In the beginning this party almost failed, it was a decaffeinated attempt of Brazilian Carnival, but it survived and grew into what it is today.

Brazil and Japan

You might think that Japan and Brazil do not have too much in common but interestingly there are about 300,000 Japanese living in Sao Paulo alone. And there are almost another two million Japanese in the rest of Brazil, so the countries have some strong ties, it’s almost inevitable that carnival would arrive in Japan.

That’s why Japan’s own carnival is called the Samba Carnival because they imported the whole Brazilian concept for carnival, specifically copied from the Rio Carnival celebrations where samba is the key feature.  The costumes, the samba music, the feathers, the samba dances everything that we would associate with Brazilian carnival has been mixed with some Japanese influence.

This is interesting because remember that Brazilian carnival is a mixture of European and African cultures that is celebrated in the Americas. It is amazing to see how carnival continues to grow and evolve. The culture and charm of Japan adds new life to this carnival celebration.

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