murmurMiyoshi Bonten Festival (Taiheizan Miyoshi Shrine)
Akita City · Taiheizan Miyoshi Shrine (Hiroomote, Akita City)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Taiheizan Miyoshi Shrine · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sat, Jan 17, 2026 （Ended） Confirmed from the official annual schedule and Akita Sakigake Shimpo’s notice for that year
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid January
- How the date is set
- Every year on January 17
- Venue
- Taiheizan Miyoshi Shrine (Hiroomote, Akita City)
- City
- Akita City, Akita
About
At Taiheizan Miyoshi Shrine in Akita City's Hiroomote district, groups carry bonten, objects that serve as vessels for the gods, and offer them to the shrine, praying for good harvests, family safety and thriving business. The rite, unique to Akita Prefecture, is thought to date from around the Edo period. Hoping to share in the might of Miyoshi, the shrine's god of strength, the bearers shove and jostle fiercely to be first into the precincts, which is why it is nicknamed the "fighting bonten." Around 80 bonten are offered each year, from neighborhood groups as well as companies, organizations and children's clubs, and spectators reach in to grab the triangular charms attached to them. The traditional Miyoshi-bushi song rings out along the way.
Sources
- OfficialTaiheizan Miyoshi Shrine www.miyoshi.or.jp
- OfficialAkita Convention & Visitors Bureau www.akita-yulala.jp
- Date checkAkita Sakigake Shimpo www.sakigake.jp
- Reference「ジョヤサ！」雪舞う境内にかけ声響く 秋田市・太平山三吉神社で「梵天祭」｜秋田魁新報電子版 www.sakigake.jp
Last checked: Oct 10, 2026. Event information is based on official announcements, but changes may not always be reflected here. Please check each official website for accurate details.
Other events this month
On the day, see what locals are murmuring on the murmur map
murmur is an app that shows short, anonymous posts on a map, right where they were written. On festival day, open the map around the venue and see what people nearby are saying.