Bunkasai Japan

Etiquette: how to be a good guest

Festivals are run by students in their late teens and early twenties who spent weeks building them. Universities keep them open to the public because visitors behave. Here is how to stay welcome.

✅ Do

  • Take a program at the gate and follow the map.
  • Ask ("Shashin, ii desu ka?" — may I take a photo?) before photographing a person up close. A thumbs-up back means yes.
  • Bring cash and small coins.
  • Line up where the students point. Queues are part of the experience.
  • Sort trash at the eco-station and take home what you cannot sort.
  • Buy something at a stall if you spend time talking to the students. It funds their club.
  • Say "sugoi!" (amazing) and "oishii!" (delicious). It always gets a smile.

🚫 Don't

  • Don't photograph or film individual students, especially in costume, without asking. Never at high schools.
  • Don't take photos where a sign says no: inside buildings on some campuses, at stages, in the gym.
  • Don't open doors that are not part of the festival, and don't wander into offices or labs.
  • Don't bring your own alcohol. Many university festivals ban drinking entirely; where it is sold, buy only from the official stalls.
  • Don't smoke anywhere on campus.
  • Don't fly a drone, ever.
  • Don't try to enter a high school festival. They are for students' families and prospective applicants; you will be turned away, and it makes life harder for the next visitor.
  • Don't touch exhibits, props or the haunted-house actors.

Photography, in detail

This is the rule that matters most. Schools in Japan have become strict about photos after problems with unwanted photography of students, and some high schools now ban phones in the gym entirely. At universities the mood is relaxed, but the principle is the same:

  • Wide shots of the festival, stalls, decorations and stages: fine.
  • A stall crew posing for you after you asked: fine, and they will love it.
  • Close-ups of people who did not agree, telephoto shots of students, filming the audience: not fine.
  • Posting to social media: fine for wide shots. Blur faces of anyone who did not agree to be filmed.
  • Campus-specific rules exist. Rikkyo, for example, allows photos outdoors only.

Trash

There are no public bins on Japanese streets, but festivals set up "eco-stations" with sorted bins and a student standing next to them. Hand your items over and they will tell you which bin. Do not leave trays on window sills.

Crowds and queues

Popular haunted houses and cafes can have 60-minute lines. Wasedasai has around 100,000 visitors a day. Move with the flow, do not stop in corridors, and keep bags in front of you in stairwells.

Talking to students

Every stall wants customers, but remember that these are students, not staff: they have no service training, and most are shy about English even after six years of it at school. Point, smile, show the point-and-show phrases or a translation app, and keep it short when there is a line behind you. A simple "oishii!" afterwards is the best tip you can give.

Children

Welcome everywhere. Haunted houses are genuinely scary; check the age recommendation at the door.

Why we insist on this

Tokyo high schools have already closed most of their festivals to outsiders. Universities have not, and the reason is that visitors, including foreign visitors, have behaved. Keep it that way.