murmurChotokuji Somin-sai Festival
Ichinoseki City · Chotokuji Temple, Fujisawa, Ichinoseki
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Chotokuji Temple · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sun, Mar 1, 2026 （Ended） Reception opens at 8:00; cold-water purification at 8:30
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early March
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year
- Venue
- Chotokuji Temple, Fujisawa, Ichinoseki
- City
- Ichinoseki City, Iwate
About
Chotokuji, a temple in Fujisawa, Ichinoseki, hosts one of Iwate's Somin-sai festivals, which are collectively selected by the national government as an Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Men wearing only loincloths purify themselves with cold water, perform the betto-nobori and hitaki-nobori rites, and then the festival peaks with the fukuro-nejiri, a fierce scramble for the Somin bag. Children join the procession with demon masks on their backs, and worshippers take home the small wooden charms that spill from the bag. Local women serve a vegetarian kenchin soup, a long-time favorite. The struggle for the bag was revived in 2012. Taking part in the scramble requires advance registration, but general visitors need no reservation.
Sources
- OfficialChotokuji Temple chotokuji.org
- OfficialIchinoseki Tourism Association www.ichitabi.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.