murmurShimodate Gion Festival
Chikusei City · Shimodate Station north exit avenue, Haguro Shrine and around (river procession on the Gogyo River at Kanai-cho)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Chikusei City Tourism Association · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Jul 23–26, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually late July
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Four days from Thursday to Sunday in late July (2026)
- Venue
- Shimodate Station north exit avenue, Haguro Shrine and around (river procession on the Gogyo River at Kanai-cho)
- City
- Chikusei City, Ibaraki
About
For four days in late July, the Shimodate district of Chikusei comes alive around Haguro Shrine in Omachi, in one of Ibaraki's bigger summer festivals. A remarkable line-up of mikoshi takes to the streets: the Meiji Mikoshi, made in 1895 to mark victory in the Sino-Japanese War; a women's mikoshi dedicated to Tamayorihime, a goddess also enshrined here; and the Heisei Mikoshi of 1992, said to be among the largest portable shrines carried every year anywhere in Japan. More than thirty neighbourhood mikoshi join them. At dawn on the last day, bearers take a mikoshi into the Gogyo River to purify it, a rite that is cancelled if the river is running high. Evening visitors will find the avenue outside Shimodate Station's north exit closed to cars and lined with food stalls.
Sources
- OfficialChikusei City Tourism Association www.chikuseikanko.jp
- OfficialIbaraki Prefectural Tourism & Local Products Association (Visit Ibaraki) www.ibarakiguide.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.