murmurKumamoto Castle Autumn Festival
Kumamoto City · Kumamoto Castle
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Kumamoto City (Kumamoto Castle official site) · Last checked: Oct 10, 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 Autumn (around October to November); dates are announced each year
- Venue
- Kumamoto Castle
- City
- Kumamoto City, Kumamoto
About
Kumamoto Castle hosts this autumn festival, and in 2026 it is staged as a recovery project after the 2026 Kumamoto earthquake under the banner Iza, Mae e (Onward, Forward). During its core Shiro Akari event, the castle's special viewing area stays open into the night, and spots such as the plaza before the main keep glow with bamboo lanterns, searchlights, lasers and projection mapping. Moving beams aimed at the sky point out the castle from all over the city, while layered light, images, mist and music portray Kumamoto's nature, scenery and cultural heritage. At Josaien there are taiko and koto performances with an open-air tea ceremony, and the Takeda-school horseback archery, a prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Property, is shown with the castle behind it. Paid areas require an admission fee.
Sources
- OfficialKumamoto City (Kumamoto Castle official site) castle.kumamoto-guide.jp
- OfficialKumamoto Destination Campaign Committee (Kumamoto Prefecture Tourist Federation) kumamoto.guide
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.