murmurShodon Shibaya
Setouchi Town · Odon Shrine, Shodon, Kakeromajima Island
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Kagoshima Prefectural Visitors Bureau (Kagoshima no Tabi) · 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 in October
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Held every year on the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar
- Venue
- Odon Shrine, Shodon, Kakeromajima Island
- City
- Setouchi Town, Kagoshima
About
On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the grounds of Odon Shrine in Shodon, a village on Kakeromajima just south of Amami Oshima, become a stage for Shodon Shibaya, an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan. Only men perform, wearing paper masks and woven hats, and they dance, improvise comic skits and stage a puppet play to hayashi music and the shamisen. The day opens with the performers cleansing themselves at the beach and filing into the shrine together, and pieces such as a sickle dance for a good harvest follow. Over twenty pieces once existed, and 11 are still performed. Tradition says Taira no Sukemori and his retainers, fleeing here after losing the Genpei War, taught these arts to win over the islanders, giving them a history of about 800 years. To get there, take the ferry from Koniya to Ikenma and continue by bus.
Sources
- OfficialKagoshima Prefectural Visitors Bureau (Kagoshima no Tabi) www.kagoshima-kankou.com
- OfficialSetouchi Town www.town.setouchi.lg.jp
- Reference諸鈍シバヤ ｜ 加計呂麻島の観光情報サイト 加計呂麻ウェルカム www.kakeroma-welcome.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.