murmurHetomato Festival
Goto City · Shimosakiyama, Goto (from Shirahama Shrine to Yamashiro Shrine)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Nagasaki Prefecture Tourism Association (Nagasaki Tabinet) · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sun, Jan 18, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid January
- How the date is set
- The 3rd Sunday of January Held on the third Sunday of January
- Venue
- Shimosakiyama, Goto (from Shirahama Shrine to Yamashiro Shrine)
- City
- Goto City, Nagasaki
About
Hetomato is an old folk event in the Shimosakiyama district of Goto City and a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Things begin with sumo offered at Shirahama Shrine. Next, two newly married women in their best kimono stand on sake barrels and play battledore, praying for many descendants. In the tamaseseri, young men blackened with soot called hegura fight hard over a straw ball, and a tug-of-war between the youth association and the fire brigade foretells the year's harvest and fishing. Last comes a giant straw sandal 3 meters long. As the young men carry it to Yamashiro Shrine, they snatch young women from the crowd, sit them on the sandal and toss them high again and again. Where the name came from is a mystery. The district is about 15 minutes by car from Fukue Port.
Sources
- OfficialNagasaki Prefecture Tourism Association (Nagasaki Tabinet) www.nagasaki-tabinet.com
- OfficialGoto City Tourism Association goto.nagasaki-tabinet.com
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.