murmurOuchi-juku Hange Festival
Shimogo Town · Ouchi-juku (Takakura Shrine)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Fukushima Prefectural Tourism & Local Products Association (Fukushima Travel) · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Thu, Jul 2, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early July
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Held on Hangesho, the eleventh day counting from the summer solstice; eve rites the night before
- Venue
- Ouchi-juku (Takakura Shrine)
- City
- Shimogo Town, Fukushima
About
In Ouchi-juku, in the town of Shimogo, Takakura Shrine holds a quiet midsummer festival. Village men in white robes and black eboshi caps surround the portable shrine and walk slowly down the old street, praying for safe households and good harvests; the mood is solemn rather than rowdy. The evening before, the organizers meet by the light of lanterns and candles to settle the next day's roles, and festival music and drums carry through the hamlet late into the night. The shrine honors Prince Mochihito, second son of Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Because it falls on Hangesho, the eleventh day after the summer solstice, it is called the Hange Festival. In 2026 it took place on July 2. Ouchi-juku is about 15 minutes by bus from Yunokami-Onsen Station on the Aizu Railway.
Sources
- 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.