murmurIshizaki Hoto Festival
Nanao City · Ishizaki-machi, Nanao
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Hot Ishikawa Travel Net (Ishikawa Prefecture Tourism League) · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sat, Aug 1, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early August
- How the date is set
- The 1st Saturday of August
- Venue
- Ishizaki-machi, Nanao
- City
- Nanao City, Ishikawa
About
Ishizaki, a fishing town on Nanao Bay, holds this summer festival. The main draw is its hoto lanterns, over 10 meters tall and among the largest kiriko carried by hand. About 100 fishermen shoulder each one and push through the narrow lanes with booming chants, while children in yukata play festival music on top. In the evening six hoto assemble in the square where the mikoshi rests to take the cool air, and after dark their giant painted characters and warrior pictures glow against the night as they whirl beneath fireworks. The festival once featured floats at Ishizaki Hachiman Shrine's summer cooling festival, but a series of fires destroyed them. When the town was given kiriko from Ushitsu in the mid-Meiji era, it took on its current form: carrying hoto as a rite for good catches and harvests and to keep fire away.
Sources
- OfficialHot Ishikawa Travel Net (Ishikawa Prefecture Tourism League) www.hot-ishikawa.jp
- OfficialJapan Heritage Noto Kiriko Festivals site (Ishikawa Prefecture Tourism League) notokiriko.ishikawa.jp
Last checked: Oct 11, 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.