murmurTosa City Otsuna (Giant Rope) Festival
Tosa City · Takaoka, Tosa City (main street from Shikoku Bank Takaoka Branch to Takaoka Daiichi Elementary School)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Niyodo Blue Tourism Council · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sat, Aug 15, 2026 （Ended） 15:00–21:00 (tug-of-war from around 18:30)
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid August
- How the date is set
- The 3rd Saturday of August
- Venue
- Takaoka, Tosa City (main street from Shikoku Bank Takaoka Branch to Takaoka Daiichi Elementary School)
- City
- Tosa City, Kochi
About
The main street of the Takaoka district in Tosa City has hosted this tug-of-war festival since the early Edo period; it is said to have begun as a way to fire up the workers digging the Kamata irrigation canal. Team bouts between children, women and men warm up the crowd, and then comes the North-South Great Tug-of-War: at the boom of a big drum, some 500 people split into north and south and haul on a rope about 80 meters long and weighing around a ton, splashed with water as they strain. Since Tosa City is a center of Tosa washi, it is only fitting that the giant rope is made of paper. Rice-cake throwing, yosakoi and a contest to pull a full-size tour bus keep the street busy from afternoon until night.
Sources
- OfficialNiyodo Blue Tourism Council niyodoblue.jp
- OfficialTosa City Tourism Association tosacity-kankou.com
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.