Lots and Lots of...Fireflies!

"Tokkawa Land of Fireflies" (Tokkawa Hotaru-no-sato) is the area in Torikawa-Town, outskirts of Okazaki-City, where cultural and educational events happen on weekends during the "Tokkawa Firefly Festival" (Tokkawa Hotaru Matsuri) throughout the month of June.

Aichi Prefecture has a spot very famous for lots of fireflies living in a natural environment and all the educational activities happening around them. The Tokkawa Land of Fireflies (Tokkawa Hotaru-no-sato) is the area in Torikawa-Town, on outskirts of Okazaki-City around the margins of the Tokkawa River. There you'll find the Okazaki-City Firefly School (Okazaki-shi Hotaru Gakko), a simple but interesting facility with educative exhibits about the flashing insects. The river itself has been elected by the Ministry of Environment as one of the Best 100 Natural Waters of Japan. No wonder so many fireflies make that place their homes!

Annually in June the place holds the Tokkawa Firefly Festival (Tokkawa Hotaru Matsuri), with cultural and educational events on the weekends. The best hours to see the dense swarms of fireflies is, of course, during the festival hours, daily between 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM. Windless days with high relative humidity is when they fly the most.