murmurHamaori-sai (Beach Purification Festival)
Chigasaki City · Chigasaki Nishihama Beach, west of Southern Beach Chigasaki
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Chigasaki City Tourism Association · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Mon, Jul 20, 2026 （Ended） First portable shrine arrives around 4 am; ceremony around 7 am
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid July
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Held on Marine Day (July 20) in 2026
- Venue
- Chigasaki Nishihama Beach, west of Southern Beach Chigasaki
- City
- Chigasaki City, Kanagawa
About
Chigasaki's beach comes alive before sunrise as portable shrines from neighboring shrines are carried down to the sea to be purified in the surf. By morning, more than 30 of them stand side by side on the sand for a ceremony, while bearers keep up their rhythmic call of dokkoi, dokkoi. The custom is linked to a story from 1838: the Samukawa Shrine mikoshi went missing in the Sagami River, a net fisherman from Nango recovered it, and the shrine has returned to Nango's shore every year since to give thanks. Tsurumine Hachimangu is said to have carried its deity to the shore even earlier. The first shrine reaches the beach while it is still dark, so plan on a very early start.
Sources
- OfficialChigasaki City Tourism Association www.chigasaki-kankou.org
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.