murmurIshioka Festival (Hitachi-no-kuni Sosha-gu Grand Festival)
Ishioka City · Central Ishioka and Hitachi-no-kuni Sosha-gu Shrine
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Ishioka City Tourism Association · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sep 19–21, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid September
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Held over the three-day weekend ending on September 15 or Respect for the Aged Day (3–4 days in total); the shrine rite itself is always on September 15
- Venue
- Central Ishioka and Hitachi-no-kuni Sosha-gu Shrine
- City
- Ishioka City, Ibaraki
About
Held in Ishioka in September, this festival is formally the Grand Festival of Hitachi-no-kuni Sosha-gu, the most important rite of a shrine said to be a thousand years old, and it is sometimes named among the Kanto region's three great festivals. It centres on the three-day weekend that ends with Respect for the Aged Day. Watch for the horo-jishi, a lion unique to Ishioka: a small hut on a cart, draped with a cloth body. On the floats, masked dancers perform to Ishioka-bayashi music. On the opening day the grand mikoshi, which is permitted to bear the chrysanthemum crest, travels from the shrine to a temporary hall in the year's host district. On the middle day, sumo and shrine-maiden dances are offered in the precincts while a great parade of lions and floats fills the station avenue, and on the final day the mikoshi goes home.
Sources
- OfficialIshioka City Tourism Association www.ishioka-kankou.com
- OfficialIbaraki Prefecture Tourism (Kanko Ibaraki) www.ibarakiguide.jp
- Reference石岡のお祭り公認サイト ishiokamatsuri.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.