murmurNamahage of Oga (New Year's Eve)
Oga City · Communities across the Oga Peninsula
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Oga City · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates not confirmed
- 2026
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually late December
- How the date is set
- Every year on December 31 On the night of New Year's Eve, in each community
- Venue
- Communities across the Oga Peninsula
- City
- Oga City, Akita
About
On New Year's Eve, young men in communities all over the Oga Peninsula dress up as Namahage – fearsome masked visitors – and go from house to house shouting "Any crybabies here?" For the people of Oga, Namahage are visiting deities who scold laziness, drive misfortune from the home, and bring good health, rich harvests and the bounty of the mountains and sea. The name is said to come from "namomi-hagi," peeling off the red heat marks that form on the skin of those who sit too long by the hearth. Masks, costumes, props and gestures differ from village to village, with masks carved from wood or made of bark or paper over baskets. A National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, it was inscribed by UNESCO in 2018 as one of the "Raiho-shin" visiting-deity rituals. Note that it takes place inside local homes.
Sources
- OfficialOga City www.city.oga.akita.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.
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.