murmurRice Planting Festival at Sano Shrine
Takaharu Town · Sano Shrine
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Takaharu Town · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sat, May 16, 2026 （Ended） Shinto rites from around 10:30
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid May
- How the date is set
- Every year on May 16
- Venue
- Sano Shrine
- City
- Takaharu Town, Miyazaki
About
Every May 16, Sano Shrine in Takaharu holds a spring festival. Young women once planted seedlings in the shrine's sacred paddy nearby; today, after the Shinto rites, the Sano community offers two dances, the Bo-odori stick dance and the Yakko-odori. The rites start at around 10:30, and then the stick dance and the Yakko dance are performed, in that order, in the square beside the main hall. By custom, it seems, the dancers also make the rounds of other spots, including Sarutahiko Shrine to the east, the guardian statues of the former Jintoku-in temple, the old sacred paddy and the nearby Ta-no-Kami, the rice-field god. The stick dance has two forms, Kamante with a halberd and sickle, and Izurin with a long staff and short sword, each danced in groups of four. Within the town, the Yakko dance is found only in Sano, where local women now keep it alive.
Sources
- OfficialTakaharu Town www.town.takaharu.lg.jp
Last checked: Oct 11, 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.