murmurBairin Tenmangu Horseback Archery
Tamana City · Bairin Tenmangu Shrine
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Tamana City · 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 late November
- How the date is set
- Every year on November 25 The archery is performed in the evening of the shrine's grand festival day
- Venue
- Bairin Tenmangu Shrine
- City
- Tamana City, Kumamoto
About
On November 25 each year, at the grand festival of Bairin Tenmangu Shrine in Tamana, riders offer yabusame, archery on horseback, to the deity. Locals call it Yakusandon, and it is a Kumamoto Prefecture Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. From the evening of November 23 the riders seclude themselves in a purification hut, and for the rest of the festival their feet are not supposed to touch the ground. On November 24 they purify themselves with water from the Kikuchi River and try out the course. On the day, with white-painted faces, hunting robes and hats, they gallop past three targets, shooting each three times. Spectators can take home pieces of the targets as lucky charms. From entering the hut to drawing lots for the next host district, the whole sequence of rites survives intact, which makes it rare in the prefecture.
Sources
- OfficialTamana City www.city.tamana.lg.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.