murmurSendai Otsunahiki (Giant Tug-of-War)
Satsumasendai City · Route 3 in central Satsumasendai (the exact spot varies by year)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Kagoshima Prefectural Visitors Bureau · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Tue, Sep 22, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually late September
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Every year on the day before the autumnal equinox holiday
- Venue
- Route 3 in central Satsumasendai (the exact spot varies by year)
- City
- Satsumasendai City, Kagoshima
About
On the day before the autumnal equinox holiday, central Satsumasendai hosts a tug-of-war with a rope 365 meters long and weighing about 7 tonnes, the largest in Japan, recognized as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan. The rope itself is made that morning: about 1,500 people, from Self-Defense Force members and local builders to junior high and high school students and residents, spend over half a day twisting 365 strands into one. After dark, some 3,000 bare-chested men in sarashi cloth, known as hadaka, haul from both ends while pushing squads charge into the opposite side to disrupt its pullers, and fierce clashes break out along the line. The custom has run for more than 420 years, and one account credits Shimazu Yoshihiro with starting it to lift morale around the Battle of Sekigahara. The location shifts from year to year.
Sources
- OfficialKagoshima Prefectural Visitors Bureau www.kagoshima-kankou.com
- OfficialSendai Otsunahiki Preservation Society sendai-ootsuna.jimdofree.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.
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.