murmurFukushima Waraji Festival
Fukushima City · Shinobu-dori (Route 13), central Fukushima
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Fukushima Waraji Festival Executive Committee · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Aug 7–9, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early August
- How the date is set
- The 1st Friday of August Usually from the first Friday of August through that Sunday
- Venue
- Shinobu-dori (Route 13), central Fukushima
- City
- Fukushima City, Fukushima
About
The star of Fukushima City's summer festival is a straw sandal 12 meters long. It is paraded through the streets while dance teams perform the waraji dance to pounding music. The festival's roots lie in the Akatsuki Mairi, a winter rite over four centuries old in which a giant sandal is offered each February at Haguro Shrine on Mt. Shinobu. That offering is just one sandal; the summer festival supplies its partner so that the pair can carry a prayer for strong legs. It usually runs from the first Friday of August through Sunday on Shinobu-dori (Route 13), about five minutes on foot from JR Fukushima Station. In 2026 the festival, its fifty-seventh, was planned for August 7 to 9: August 7 went ahead, August 8 was cancelled for bad weather, and it ended on August 9 with the sandal offering at Haguro Shrine.
Sources
- OfficialFukushima Waraji Festival Executive Committee www.waraji.co.jp
- OfficialFukushima Prefectural Tourism & Local Products Association (Fukushima Travel) www.tif.ne.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.