murmurHayase Children's Kabuki
Mihama Town · Hayase, Mihama (Hiyoshi Shrine and other sites)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Fukui Dot Com (Fukui Prefectural Tourism Federation) · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sun, May 3, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early May
- How the date is set
- Every year on May 3 As it is a religious rite, times may vary
- Venue
- Hayase, Mihama (Hiyoshi Shrine and other sites)
- City
- Mihama Town, Fukui
About
Every May 3, as the grand festival of Hiyoshi Shrine, elementary school boys in the Hayase district of Mihama perform kabuki as an offering at local shrines and temples, travelling between them with a pulled float. Handed down for about 150 years by local accounts, it is a tradition that holds the community together. Its origin lies in an Edo-period cholera outbreak: the head priest of Zuirinji Temple was told in a revelation that offering children's kabuki to the shrines and temples would calm the epidemic. The villagers built a float, and the next year pulled it to Hiyoshi Shrine, Zuirinji, Joumyoji and other sites to perform, after which the sickness is said to have faded. The day became the shrine's grand festival; once held on another date, it now falls on May 3. Being a sacred rite, its timings can shift.
Sources
- OfficialFukui Dot Com (Fukui Prefectural Tourism Federation) www.fuku-e.com
- OfficialWakasa Mihama Tourism Association wakasa-mihama.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.