murmurOmizutori (Shuni-e at Todaiji Nigatsudo Hall)
Nara City · Nigatsudo Hall, Todaiji Temple
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Todaiji Temple · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- 2027
- Mar 1–14, 2027
- Usual timing
- Usually early March
- How the date is set
- Every year, March 1 – March 14 Viewing is restricted on March 12 due to crowds
- Venue
- Nigatsudo Hall, Todaiji Temple
- City
- Nara City, Nara
About
Todaiji's Nigatsudo Hall holds its Shuni-e, popularly called Omizutori, for 2 weeks from March 1 to 14. The highlight is the nightly otaimatsu: attendants haul torches 6 m long up to the hall to light the monks' path, then carry them around the balcony so sparks rain down on the crowd below. Late on March 12, at about 1:30 a.m. on the 13th, sacred water is drawn from the Wakasai well as an offering to Kannon, which is where the "water-drawing" nickname comes from. Formally a repentance rite before the Eleven-Faced Kannon, it sees monks called rengyoshu atone for the everyday wrongs of ordinary people and pray for national peace and public happiness. Founded by the monk Jitchu in 752, it has never once been skipped.
Sources
- OfficialTodaiji Temple www.todaiji.or.jp
- OfficialNara City Tourism Association narashikanko.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.
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.