murmurFujisaki Hachimangu Grand Festival
Kumamoto City · Fujisaki Hachimangu Shrine and central Kumamoto
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Fujisaki Hachimangu Shrine · 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 mid September
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Mid-September; the procession date is announced each year
- Venue
- Fujisaki Hachimangu Shrine and central Kumamoto
- City
- Kumamoto City, Kumamoto
About
Fujisaki Hachimangu in Kumamoto City holds the prefecture's largest festival in mid-September, and for locals it signals that autumn has come. More than a thousand years old, it was originally a Buddhist rite called Hojoe and took its present name, the Grand Festival, when Shinto and Buddhism were separated in the Meiji era. Rites continue for five days. The main event is the Shinko-shiki procession, in which four mikoshi travel through the city center with lion dancers, halberds, armored warriors called zuibyo and spearmen to the resting place at Daniyama, where Noh is offered before everyone heads back in the afternoon. The morning leg is known as Asa-zuibyo and the evening leg as Yu-zuibyo. At the tail come decorated horses draped in colorful cloth, urged on by seko handlers as they charge through the streets.
Sources
- OfficialFujisaki Hachimangu Shrine fujisakigu.or.jp
- OfficialKumamoto Prefecture (Kumamoto Culture Site) 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.