Yufuin Film Festival: Cinema and Arts Emerging from a Hot Spring Town

The "Yufuin Film Festival," held every summer at Yufuin Onsen spreading at the foot of Mt. Yufu, is one of Japan's most historic independent film festivals, begun in 1976. Apart from commercialism, its great charm is the warm, intimate atmosphere where audience and film people gather knee to knee in a hot-spring area and talk together. It continues to be loved as a distinctive event unique to Yufuin, where famous hot waters and film culture meet.

The History of the Yufuin Film Festival

The Yufuin Film Festival is a film festival rooted in the region, which has walked together with the development of Yufuin as a tourist destination. Drawing a clear line from large-scale commercial film festivals, it has been run by hand by people who love film. The tradition is the "joint critique session," where directors, actors, and audience talk together without barriers around the screened works, and passionate discussion of the works continues late into the night. As a warm community place where person connects with person through film, it has been supported by many fans throughout its long history.

Charm Unique to a Hot-Spring Area

The greatest distinguishing feature of this film festival is the superb location of Yufuin Onsen. By day you appreciate films, and at night you heal your fatigue at the hot springs while conversing with other participants—you can spend time in such a luxurious way. The distance between film people and audience is close, and being able to directly interact with directors and actors active on the front line is a charm precisely because it is small in scale. In a hot-spring town where steam rises, a one-of-a-kind experience awaits where people interact through the common topic of film.

The Pleasures of Yufuin Onsen

What you want to enjoy together with the film festival is the charm of Yufuin Onsen itself. The area around Kinrin Lake, which overlooks the symbol Mt. Yufu, is known for fantastical scenery wrapped in morning mist. Distinctive shops, cafés, and art museums line up along Yunotsubo-kaido, where you can enjoy a stroll. Being able to relax to your heart's content while soaking in famous hot water that boasts an abundant volume is also unique to Yufuin. Yufuin, where art, hot springs, and nature harmonize, is a popular hot-spring area worth visiting even outside the film-festival period.

Best Season and Access

The Yufuin Film Festival is usually held in summer (around August). If you visit with the film festival as your purpose, this is the time, but Yufuin Onsen can be enjoyed through all four seasons, and the fresh-greenery and autumn-foliage seasons are also exceptional. For access, the hot-spring town is within walking distance from Yufuin Station on the JR Kyudai Main Line, and a trip on the limited express "Yufuin no Mori" is also popular. By car, the Yufuin Interchange on the Oita Expressway is convenient. In Yufuin, where famous hot waters and film culture meet, by all means spend a memorable while.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Dates: Thursday 27 August to Sunday 30 August 2026 / 51st edition
• Venue: Yufuin Luck Hall (3738-1 Kawakami, Yufuin-cho, Yufu City, Oita Prefecture)
• Access (by rail): A 6-minute walk from Yufuin Station on the JR Kyudai Main Line, or a 3-minute walk from the bus centre in front of Yufuin Station
• Access (by car): From the Yufuin interchange on the Oita Expressway, head for the Yufuin hot spring town
• Parking: Visitors are directed to the former site of the Kokumin Shukusha lodge (2928-6 Kawakami, Yufuin-cho, Yufu City, Oita Prefecture)
• Ticket prices: All-days pass (advance) 35,000 yen, limited to 100 tickets = a free pass covering all screenings plus the symposium, talk shows and party (in 2026 sales closed and sold out at 18:00 on 3 July) / film ticket (advance) 2,000 yen = 1 special screening or special preview plus 2 general screenings / same-day tickets are 2,200 yen for special screenings and special previews and 1,200 yen for general screenings / symposium and talk shows 500 yen (cash payment) / party ticket 8,000 yen (sold in limited numbers from 9:30 in the morning at the reception of the screening venue; in 2026 sales for Friday the 28th were cancelled)
• Advance sales period and methods: 1 July to 26 August. Tickets can be purchased through the application form on the official website, by ticket reservation postcard (by post or by fax to 097-532-2426), by email ([email protected]), via Lawson Ticket online and Loppi terminals (L-code 81996), at the Yufu City Tourist Information Center, and at ticket agencies in Oita City and Beppu City. As a rule, reservation procedures close on 20 August
• Refunds: Tickets are non-refundable
• In case of rain: As the venue is an indoor hall, the festival goes ahead as scheduled even in rain. It is within walking distance of Yufuin Station, so getting there is no problem as long as you have an umbrella
• Screening schedule: The daily timetable, the films to be shown and information about guests are updated continuously on the official website. In 2026, additional guests were announced even after August had begun
• Guide to time required: Allow 2 to 3 hours for one film plus a talk show. Attending all days assumes an overnight stay
• Accommodation: Summer is the busy season in Yufuin. If you plan to stay for the film festival, it is safest to secure your accommodation at the same time as your tickets
• Footwear and clothing: Both the venue and the route from the station are paved. In late August, mornings and evenings in Yufuin are cool and the indoor air conditioning is strong, so it is reassuring to bring a layer to put on
• Wheelchairs and pushchairs: Please check with the organising committee in advance regarding seating and movement within the venue
• Enquiries: Yufuin Film Festival Organising Committee (c/o Oita Eizo Center, United Otemachi Building 401, 2-2-5 Otemachi, Oita City), TEL/FAX 097-532-2426

Enjoying Yufuin alongside the film festival

Because the venue is just a 6-minute walk from Yufuin Station, the luxury of this festival is that you can stroll around the hot spring town between screenings. Lake Kinrin wrapped in morning mist, Yunotsubo Kaido lined with distinctive shops, views of Mount Yufu - you can soak in the hot springs while still savouring the afterglow of a film, then head back to the venue in the evening. If you are arriving on the Yufuin no Mori limited express, be sure to reserve your seat early during the summer holiday period as well.

Where this information comes from

The dates (27 to 30 August 2026), the address of the venue Yufuin Luck Hall, the access details of a 6-minute walk from Yufuin Station and a 3-minute walk from the bus centre in front of the station, the designated parking location, the 2026 special theme and the contact details were confirmed on the official website of the Yufuin Film Festival. The ticket types and prices, the fact that the all-days pass sold out at 18:00 on 3 July, the advance sales period, sales methods, L-code and reservation deadline, the no-refund policy, and the same-day sale of party tickets and the cancellation of sales for the 28th, are based on the ticket information page of the same official website. The festival's start in 1976 and its status as the oldest surviving film festival in Japan, its guiding idea that this is a town without a single cinema, yet cinema exists here, and its structure of screening outstanding Japanese films together with themed programmes, were confirmed in the announcement of the 51st edition on YUFUINFO, the official travel guide of Yufu City. Dates, prices and the films screened are subject to change, so please check the official information before you set out.