murmurHanaeshiki Flower Ceremony (Yakushiji)
Nara City · Yakushiji Temple
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Yakushiji 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 25–31, 2027
- Usual timing
- Usually late March
- How the date is set
- Every year, March 25 – March 31
- Venue
- Yakushiji Temple
- City
- Nara City, Nara
About
From March 25 to 31, Yakushiji holds its Shuni-e, nicknamed Hanaeshiki ("flower ceremony") because 10 kinds of artificial flowers are offered to the temple's Medicine Buddha; for locals it signals the arrival of spring. During the week, monks known as rengyoshu perform the Yakushi repentance rite 6 times a day, and in front of the Golden Hall and elsewhere there are offerings of all sorts: a great outdoor fire ritual with fire-walking, incense, flowers and tea, and Noh and bugaku dance. The last night ends with the closing service and a demon-chasing ceremony. Shuni-e rites at Nara's great temples pray for the nation, good harvests and everyone's happiness and belong to the second month; Yakushiji once held its rite at the end of the second lunar month and simply carried those dates over to the modern calendar.
Sources
- OfficialYakushiji Temple www.yakushiji.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.