murmurIzushi Hatsuuma Festival
Toyooka City · Around the Izushi Castle ruins, Izushi, Toyooka
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Toyooka Tourism Innovation (Toyooka official tourism site) · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Mar 20–22, 2026 （Ended） Mar 20 18:00–20:00, Mar 21 9:00–18:00, Mar 22 9:00–17:00
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid March
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Linked to the first Horse Day of spring; dates are set each year
- Venue
- Around the Izushi Castle ruins, Izushi, Toyooka
- City
- Toyooka City, Hyogo
About
For three days each spring, the area around the Izushi Castle ruins in Izushi, Toyooka, fills with festival crowds. Food stalls line the streets, and there are the well-known haunted house and fire-engine displays. Children dressed as white foxes also perform a dance. The festival is a prayer for thriving business and good harvests, and it is said to go back to the Edo period: the lord of the Izushi domain would open the castle's main gate only on Hatsuuma, the first Horse Day, letting townspeople visit the Inari shrine inside. Locals see it as the sign that spring has finally reached snowy Tajima. On the opening evening, bonfires are lit and lanterns glow along the approach.
Sources
- OfficialToyooka Tourism Innovation (Toyooka official tourism site) toyooka-tourism.com
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.