murmurHotaka Shrine Ofune Matsuri (Boat Festival)
Azumino City · Hotaka Shrine
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Hotaka Shrine · Last checked: Oct 11, 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 September
- How the date is set
- Every year, September 26 – September 27 Eve festival on the 26th, main festival with the boats on the 27th
- Venue
- Hotaka Shrine
- City
- Azumino City, Nagano
About
Over two days, an eve and a main day, Hotaka Shrine in Azumino holds its grand festival, a prefecturally designated intangible folk cultural property. On the main day, five boat-shaped floats of different sizes, dressed with Hotaka dolls, are hauled by parishioners into the shrine grounds to flutes and drums. The moment everyone waits for is when the adult boats, each over 6 m tall, ram into one another in front of the shrine. The boats are rebuilt every year from fresh oak, and dozens of kimono hang along their sides; the people who lent them are said to enjoy good health for the year ahead. The boats are linked to the shrine's deity, the ancestral god of the Azumi, a seafaring people.
Sources
- OfficialHotaka Shrine hotakajinja.com
- OfficialAzumino City Tourism Association azumino-e-tabi.net
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.