murmurKoga Lantern Pole Jostling Festival (Chochin Saomomi Matsuri)
Koga City · Special festival grounds at the west exit of Koga Station
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Koga City Tourism Association · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sat, Dec 5, 2026
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early December
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year
- Venue
- Special festival grounds at the west exit of Koga Station
- City
- Koga City, Ibaraki
About
Known as one of the Kanto region's strangest festivals, this December night event in Koga has been handed down since the Edo period. Teams raise lanterns on the tips of bamboo poles close to 20 metres long and clash them together, each trying to put out the others' flames. A stockade about 10 metres tall surrounds the arena, and the battle goes on amid showers of sparks and the crack of breaking bamboo. The story goes that it began with people waiting with lanterns, in bitter cold, for the procession returning from the Shichigo-meguri rite of Nogi Shrine, then part of the Koga domain; they jostled against each other to stay warm. That is why some locals still call it Okaeri, meaning welcome home.
Sources
- OfficialKoga City Tourism Association www.kogakanko.jp
- OfficialIbaraki Prefecture (Ibaraki Tourism) 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.
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.