murmurIsesaki Hatsuichi New Year Market
Isesaki City · Honcho-dori Street and surroundings (around Isesaki Shrine)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Isesaki City Tourism and Local Products Association · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sun, Jan 11, 2026 （Ended） 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm (roads closed from noon to 9:00 pm)
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid January
- How the date is set
- Every year on January 11 Held on January 11, the day of kagami-biraki (breaking the New Year rice cakes)
- Venue
- Honcho-dori Street and surroundings (around Isesaki Shrine)
- City
- Isesaki City, Gunma
About
On January 11, the day for breaking open the New Year rice cakes, Isesaki holds its first market of the year centered on Honcho-dori. It is a long-running New Year custom, and several co-hosted events overlap on the day. Isesaki Shrine holds a festival devoted to yaki-manju, the grilled buns of the Joshu region, and the crossing by the mechanical clock hosts a monkey show plus kiyari work songs, matoi standard-twirling and ladder acrobatics. After dark, a mikoshi heads out from Isesaki Shrine on its first run of the year, the Isesaki Meiji-kan puts on a special exhibition, and local shopping streets join in with sales, so the whole town greets the year together.
Sources
- OfficialIsesaki City Tourism and Local Products Association isesaki-kankou.com
- OfficialIsesaki City Tourism and Local Products Association isesaki-kankou.com
- OfficialGunma Prefecture / Gunma Association of Tourism, Local Products & International Exchange gunma-kanko.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.