murmurKyokusui no En (Winding Stream Poetry Banquet), Dazaifu Tenmangu
Dazaifu City · Kyokusui Garden (Archives) and approach, Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sun, Mar 1, 2026 （Ended） Procession along the approach at 12:00; banquet at 13:00
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early March
- How the date is set
- The 1st Sunday of March
- Venue
- Kyokusui Garden (Archives) and approach, Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine
- City
- Dazaifu City, Fukuoka
About
On the first Sunday of March, a pastime of the Heian court comes back to life in the garden of Dazaifu Tenmangu. Guests in twelve-layered robes and formal court dress sit along a meandering stream under blooming plum trees; as a sake cup drifts toward each of them, they must compose a poem and write it on a paper strip before it floats by, then drink. The rite honors Sugawara no Michizane, a gifted poet himself, and is said to have been started in 958 by the official Ono no Yoshifuru. What the public can see is the costumed procession along the approach to the shrine around noon. It goes ahead rain or shine.
Sources
- OfficialDazaifu Tenmangu Shrine www.dazaifutenmangu.or.jp
- OfficialFukuoka Prefecture Tourism Association (Crossroad Fukuoka) www.crossroadfukuoka.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.