Nijigen No Mori launches Naruto Uzumaki birthday festival with 8 events

Nijigen No Mori is opening its biggest autumn campaign yet on Sept. 26 at its Naruto-themed area on Awaji Island in Japan. The festival builds to Naruto Uzumaki’s Oct. 10 birthday with eight fan events, contests and park-wide activities aimed at anime visitors and families.

Why it matters: - Nijigen No Mori is turning Naruto Uzumaki’s birthday into a multi-week destination event, giving the anime park a new seasonal draw for international fans and families. - The festival combines character interactions, contests and hands-on games, which broadens the appeal beyond core fans and into general theme-park visitors. - The launch adds a major autumn anchor for NARUTO&BORUTO SHINOBI-ZATO, one of Nijigen No Mori’s signature attractions on Awaji Island.

What happened: - Nijigen No Mori announced "NARUTO&BORUTO SHINOBI-ZATO Naruto Uzumaki Birthday Festival 2026," its largest-scale autumn initiative to date. - The festival starts Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, and runs through autumn with eight sequential promotional projects. - The event is centered at NARUTO&BORUTO SHINOBI-ZATO inside Nijigen No Mori on Awaji Island near Kobe and Osaka. - The festival marks Naruto Uzumaki’s birthday on Oct. 10. - The park is adding special activities on Oct. 10, including "Chakra Tug-of-War" and traditional autumn festival games.

The details: - Volume 1, Uzumaki Naruto Birthday Greeting, runs Oct. 10-12 and offers in-person photo sessions and character greetings. - Volume 2 gives every park visitor one limited-edition collectible card at random, with six designs available while supplies last. - Volume 3 is a Naruto birthday photo contest on X, where guests post park photos using the official hashtag for prizes and a chance to have messages handwritten onto the on-site commemorative banner. - Volume 4 brings back the Chunin Exams, which the park says have a 0.5% pass rate, and adds newly unlocked Jonin Exams with certified rank credentials and pin badges. - Volume 5, Chakra Tug-of-War, takes place only on Oct. 10, with participants gathering at the A・N Gate at 10:00 a.m. - Volume 6, the Shinobi-Zato Autumn Festival, features Bon Odori dancing choreographed to the "Bijuu Counting Song" and festival games including Rasengan Water Balloon Fishing and Shuriken Throwing. - Volume 7 replaces birthday event stickers with newly designed collectible character birthday cards for visitors celebrating during their birthday month. - Volume 8 renews the "Gemaki-style" collectible photo cards with new design additions awarded during mission completion. - The park describes NARUTO&BORUTO Shinobi-Zato as a recreation of the Hidden Leaf Village with Hokage Rock, life-size character figures, athletic training courses and a three-story maze. - Nijigen No Mori says the broader park uses digital and interactive technology for immersive attractions based on anime, manga, movies and video games. - The park also includes themed areas for NARUTO, Godzilla, Crayon Shinchan and Dragon Quest. - Travel from Kansai International Airport to the park takes about three hours by highway bus with one transfer, or by train plus highway bus. - More information is available in the park’s announcement.

Between the lines: - The structure points to a deliberate effort to turn one character birthday into a full-season visitor campaign, not a single-day promotion. - The mix of collectible items, social sharing and skill-based challenges suggests the park is trying to drive repeat visits and social media reach. - The emphasis on international access and family-friendly activities fits Nijigen No Mori’s broader pitch as a tourism destination, not just a local attraction.

What's next: - The festival will roll out in stages through autumn, with the biggest birthday-weekend push centered on Oct. 10. - Visitors can expect limited-quantity rewards, time-bound events and refreshed collectibles as the campaign continues. - Nijigen No Mori is likely to use the birthday festival to sustain traffic across the season and keep Naruto-related attractions in rotation as a marquee draw.