murmurSetsubun Festival at Yoshida Shrine
Kyoto City · Yoshida Shrine
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Yoshida Shrine · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Feb 2–4, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early February
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Three days centered on Setsubun (the day before, the day itself and the day after)
- Venue
- Yoshida Shrine
- City
- Kyoto City, Kyoto
About
Yoshida Shrine's Setsubun festival, held since the Muromachi period, is one of Kyoto's biggest celebrations of the turn of the seasons. Rites run for three days around Setsubun, and the shrine says about half a million visitors usually come, filling the grounds with food stalls and crowds. On the first afternoon comes the tsuina-shiki, known as oni-yarai: a figure in a four-eyed golden mask chases red, blue and yellow demons out of the grounds, and courtiers shoot reed arrows from peach-wood bows to drive off evil. On the afternoon of Setsubun itself, old charms brought by worshippers are burned in a huge fire pit. Charms dyed gardenia yellow and lucky beans with a prize lottery ticket are popular keepsakes. No parking is available during the festival.
Sources
- OfficialYoshida Shrine yoshidajinja.com
- OfficialKyoto City Tourism Association (Kyoto Travel Navi) ja.kyoto.travel
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.