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crowd walking in the Tokyo St Patrick's Day parade

Irish for a day: how Japan has embraced St Patrick’s Day

Global Celebration

St Patrick’s Day, Ireland’s national day, takes place every year on 17 March. Named after the fifth-century saint who introduced Christianity to Ireland, it has been celebrated in Ireland for nearly 1,200 years and has now become a global celebration of all things Irish.

Huge parades and festivals are held across the world, where people of all ages and nationalities come together to experience Ireland’s world-famous music, dance, food and drink. Despite only having a diaspora community of 2,000 Irish people, Japan holds a special place for our national holiday, and has been embracing St Patrick’s Day since the early 1990s.

Green fireworks over Tokyo skyline

In Japan

St Patrick’s Day Parade Tokyo, organised by Irish Network Japan Tokyo, is the oldest and largest St Patrick’s Day parade in Asia. It started in 1992 with a small group of 60 people from the Irish community. It has since moved to Omotesando – Tokyo’s grandest boulevard – and has grown to become an annual event in the cultural calendar of central Tokyo.

Irish and Japanese flags are lined up along the avenue for the event and more than 1,000 people parade: marching bands, musicians and dancers, and community members, all led by the Parade Grand Marshal and Irish and Japanese VIP guests, and, of course, St Patrick himself. As in other countries across the world, the Japanese take the opportunity to don green and be Irish for the day.

A traditional Japanese building illuminated with green lighting for St. Patrick's Day

Inspiring Others

The success of the St Patrick’s Day Parade Tokyo parade inspired other regions and organisations to organise parades and events around the country. Now, more than 20 St Patrick’s Day parades and events take place every year across Japan. Most of them are run by the Irish community groups and volunteers, supported by local governments, retail associations and sponsors. In addition to the parades and events, many iconic buildings and landmarks across Japan light up in green to mark St Patrick’s Day, joining thousands of famous sights around the world.

Since 2014, the Green Ireland Festival (formerly known as I Love Ireland Festival) has become a fixture of the St Patrick’s Day festivities in Tokyo. Organised by the Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce, this festival of Ireland showcases Irish music, dance and sports, as well as food and drink, and attracts more than 100,000 people to Yoyogi Park in central Tokyo. It is the largest event of its kind in Asia.

A group of people attending the Emerald Ball in Tokyo

Emerald Ball

Another highlight of the St Patrick’s Day festivities in Japan is the annual Emerald Ball Tokyo, organised by The Ireland Funds. This elegant ‘green tie’ charity ball raises funds for Irish-related charities in Japan and Ireland and is an opportunity those with a connection to Ireland to come together to celebrate Ireland’s National Day. It attracts high-profile guests from a variety of sectors.

One of the big draws around St Patrick’s Day, and an aspect of Irish culture that has really seen Japanese people embrace our national day, is the love for Irish traditional music and dance. Riverdance took Japanese audiences by storm in the 1990s, and Irish dance schools can still be found today in Tokyo and Yokohama. Music and dance performances are integral to the celebrations in Japan, and local festival organisers, including the Irish Network Japan, typically invite many popular and talented artists to perform..

The Japanese people have huge respect for these Irish artforms, and it’s this resonance between our cultures that is so enthusiastically celebrated on St Patrick’s Day in Japan.