murmurOshu Mizusawa Kukuribina Matsuri (Padded Doll Festival)
Oshu City · Maple (1F special venue), Oshu City Samurai Residence Museum and Mizusawa Tourism and Products Center
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Oshu City · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Feb 27 – Mar 3, 2026 （Ended） 10:00–16:00 (until 15:00 on the last day)
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually late February
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year
- Venue
- Maple (1F special venue), Oshu City Samurai Residence Museum and Mizusawa Tourism and Products Center
- City
- Oshu City, Iwate
About
This festival heralds spring in Mizusawa, Oshu, with displays of kukuribina, the local name for hina dolls made with the oshie padded-collage technique. Cotton is laid over cardboard pieces, wrapped in fabric and assembled into figures; the name comes from the local word kukuru, meaning to wrap cotton in cloth. The craft dates back to the mid-Edo period and flourished from the Meiji to the Taisho era after the Mizusawa painter Isago Chikko taught it to women and children. Besides the emperor and empress, court ladies and musicians, the dolls depict scenes from kabuki and folk tales. Alongside the elegant displays, there are hands-on kukuribina-making workshops that require advance booking.
Sources
- OfficialOshu City www.city.oshu.iwate.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.