murmurToshidon of the Koshiki Islands
Satsumasendai City · Teuchi, Kataura, Aose and Sesenoura on Shimo-Koshiki Island
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Kagoshima Prefectural Visitors Bureau · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates not confirmed
- 2026
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually late December
- How the date is set
- Every year on December 31 Every year on New Year's Eve
- Venue
- Teuchi, Kataura, Aose and Sesenoura on Shimo-Koshiki Island
- City
- Satsumasendai City, Kagoshima
About
On New Year's Eve on Shimo-Koshiki Island, part of Satsumasendai, a masked deity called Toshidon calls on households with children. Young men from each village play the role, transformed by masks and capes made from hemp palm and cycad leaves, paper and similar materials. Once inside, Toshidon lectures the children about how they behaved over the year and gets them to promise to do better. He is not only a figure of fear but also a bringer of blessings: the toshimochi rice cake he gives out is believed to help a child grow a year older in good health. Kept alive village by village, the custom became an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 1977 and joined UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2009.
Sources
- OfficialKagoshima Prefectural Visitors Bureau www.kagoshima-kankou.com
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.
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.