murmurSaikoji Enma Matsuri
Uwajima City · Saikoji Temple
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Uwajima Tourism and Local Products Association · Last checked: Oct 11, 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 February
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Held each year for three days including the 16th day of the first lunar month
- Venue
- Saikoji Temple
- City
- Uwajima City, Ehime
About
For three days around yabuiri, a holiday in the old lunar New Year season, Saikoji Temple in Uwajima holds a festival for Enma, king of the underworld. Locals call it Enma-sama, and many say its arrival tells them spring is near. Don't miss the giant painting of the Great King Enma, about the size of 8 tatami mats, by Uwajima-born painter Murakami Tenshin, and a finely detailed picture of hell and paradise; volunteer guides explain them and bring out much more. There is also a memorial service before the Enma statue, rice-cake throwing at the temple and in the shopping arcade, free bowls of sweet bean soup called enma-jiru and a tea gathering called enma-gama. Stalls along the approach sell gourd-shaped sweets and matsutake candy. Uwajima has deep roots in Enma worship, and this festival has carried it on for more than 350 years.
Sources
- OfficialUwajima Tourism and Local Products Association www.uwajima.org
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.