murmurSaikusa Festival "Lily Festival" (Isagawa Shrine)
Nara City · Isagawa Shrine
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Nara City Tourism Association · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Wed, Jun 17, 2026 （Ended） Rite from 10:30; procession from 13:15
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid June
- How the date is set
- Every year on June 17 Lily procession and eve rite on the 16th; closing rite on the 18th
- Venue
- Isagawa Shrine
- City
- Nara City, Nara
About
Isagawa Shrine in central Nara holds its annual festival, nicknamed the Lily Festival. The most eye-catching part comes in the afternoon, when a procession in ancient-style dress, led by a woman playing the shrine's goddess with seven maidens, a lily princess, children and a flower cart, makes its way through the city. At the altar, sake casks called son and hotogi are dressed with wild sasayuri lilies; the chief priest pours dark and white sake into earthenware cups, and shrine maidens perform the kagura dance "Umazake Miwa no Mai" holding lilies. The goddess is said to have lived by the Sai stream at the foot of Mt. Miwa where these lilies bloom. Like the Chinka-sai of its parent shrine, Omiwa, it was made a state rite against epidemics under the Taiho Code.
Sources
- OfficialNara City Tourism Association narashikanko.or.jp
- OfficialOmiwa Shrine oomiwa.or.jp
- OfficialOmiwa Shrine oomiwa.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.
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.