murmurOkera Mairi at Yasaka Shrine
Kyoto City · Yasaka Shrine
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Kyoto City Tourism Association (Kyoto Travel Navi) · 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 December
- How the date is set
- Every year, December 31 – January 1 Held through the night after the New Year's Eve ritual
- Venue
- Yasaka Shrine
- City
- Kyoto City, Kyoto
About
On New Year's Eve, Yasaka Shrine keeps a sacred fire called okera-bi burning through the night in its okera lanterns, lit after the year-end ritual. Visitors light a rope from the flame and walk home twirling it in circles so the ember stays alive. Back home, the fire is used to light the household altar and to cook the New Year's ozoni soup, a wish for good health in the year ahead. The leftover rope is kept in the kitchen as a charm against fire. Watching people stream out of the shrine swinging their glowing ropes is one of the classic sights of New Year's Eve in Kyoto.
Sources
- OfficialKyoto City Tourism Association (Kyoto Travel Navi) ja.kyoto.travel
- OfficialYasaka Shrine www.yasaka-jinja.or.jp
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.