murmurYame Fukushima Toro Ningyo (Lantern Puppet Theater)
Yame City · Fukushima Hachimangu Shrine grounds, Honmachi, Yame
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Fukuoka Prefecture Tourism Association (Crossroad Fukuoka) · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sep 20–23, 2026 （Ended） Opening show 8:00 pm; main shows at 1:30 pm, 3:00 pm, 4:30 pm, 7:00 pm and 8:30 pm
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually late September
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Performed over three days around the autumn equinox as an offering for the shrine's Hojoe, with an opening show the night before
- Venue
- Fukushima Hachimangu Shrine grounds, Honmachi, Yame
- City
- Yame City, Fukuoka
About
Around the autumn equinox, mechanical puppets put on plays at Fukushima Hachimangu Shrine in Yame's Honmachi district as an offering for the Hojoe festival. Their stage is a three-tier, two-story structure fitted together without nails or clamps, and it stands only for the performance period. The puppets move in time with live music; look out for figures crossing a bridge and costumes that switch in an instant. The tradition is said to have started in the mid-Edo period, when Fukushima townspeople offered ingeniously made lanterns containing dolls, and it later took in techniques from the puppet theater then popular around Osaka. It is a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. In 2026 an opening show ran on the evening of Sunday, September 20, and main performances, five a day, ran from Monday, September 21 to Wednesday, September 23.
Sources
- OfficialFukuoka Prefecture Tourism Association (Crossroad Fukuoka) www.crossroadfukuoka.jp
- OfficialYame City www.city.yame.fukuoka.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.