murmurSawara Grand Festival (Autumn)
Katori City · Suwa Shrine and the Shinjuku district of Sawara (near JR Sawara Station)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Katori City · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Oct 9–11, 2026 （Ended） 10:00–22:00
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid October
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Usually the Friday to Sunday around the second Saturday of October; held rain or shine
- Venue
- Suwa Shrine and the Shinjuku district of Sawara (near JR Sawara Station)
- City
- Katori City, Chiba
About
The autumn festival of Suwa Shrine in Sawara, Katori, is one of the three great float festivals of the Kanto region. As the Sawara float procession, it is designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan and is part of UNESCO's Yama, Hoko, Yatai intangible heritage inscription. In autumn, 14 floats are pulled through the Shinjuku district. Built entirely of zelkova wood and crowned with giant figures from legend and history, they move through the old streets to Sawara-bayashi music. Don't miss the no-no-ji mawashi, a maneuver in which crews swing floats up to 7 meters tall around in a curve like the hiragana "no." At night the lanterns on the floats are lit, giving them a different look from daytime.
Sources
- OfficialKatori City www.city.katori.lg.jp
- OfficialChiba Prefectural Tourism Association (Chiba Tourism Navi) maruchiba.jp
Last checked: Oct 11, 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.