murmurKoshiki Tsuina-shiki Demon Rite at Nagata Shrine
Kobe City · Nagata Shrine, Nagata Ward, Kobe
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Nagata Shrine · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates not confirmed
- 2026
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early February
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Held every year on Setsubun in early February
- Venue
- Nagata Shrine, Nagata Ward, Kobe
- City
- Kobe City, Hyogo
About
On the afternoon of Setsubun, the day before the traditional start of spring, seven demons take the stage in front of Nagata Shrine in Kobe's Nagata Ward. These oni are not villains to be driven out: they stand in for the gods, burning away misfortune with straw torches and cutting it down with swords. Red, blue, old-woman and other demons dance again and again to drums and conch horns, then perform with swords handed to them by young boys. The highlight comes near the end, when two demons go at the rice cakes with an axe and a mallet. The rite is believed to date back at least to the Muromachi period and is a Hyogo Prefecture Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Catching ash from the torches is said to purify you, and small bundles of leftover torch are offered at the shrine that day. The Setsubun ceremony starts at 12:30, and the demon rite begins at about 13:30.
Sources
- OfficialNagata Shrine nagatajinja.jp
- Reference冬の行事｜長田神社 nagatajinja.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.