Chasing Fireflies in Japan's Hotaru Season

In Japan, the June firefly season is a cultural event as much as a natural one. About three hours from Tokyo, the mountain town of Tatsuno holds the country's largest firefly festival. A hotaru matsuri is an evening fair with food stalls and traditional music, building to the moment after dark when tens of thousands of Genji fireflies rise along the river gorge. The display lasts about ten days each year. Near Kyoto, the Uji River offers the quieter version. This is where The Tale of Genji is set, and the same slow pulsing fireflies drift over the water in the old ritual of hotaru gari, firefly viewing. The Genji and Heike fireflies take their names from the two clans of the 12th century Genpei War, and the Genji name is said to come from the scene in the novel where Hikaru Genji releases fireflies into the night. Stay in a riverside ryokan in Uji and head out after dark. Peak season is early to mid June.