murmurFuru Matsuri (Annual Grand Festival of Isonokami Jingu)
Tenri City · Isonokami Jingu to the Otabisho in Tamachi
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Isonokami Jingu · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Thu, Oct 15, 2026 10:00 festival rites and bugaku dance, 13:00 procession departs, 16:00 return ceremony
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid October
- How the date is set
- Every year on October 15 Eve ceremony the day before and a closing ceremony the day after
- Venue
- Isonokami Jingu to the Otabisho in Tamachi
- City
- Tenri City, Nara
About
Isonokami Jingu's largest festival of the year is called Furu Matsuri, or Tamura-watari, since the deity travels to the Otabisho in Tamachi (once Tamura) in Tenri. The afternoon procession is the main event: the gohoren palanquin bearing the deity's spirit, the largest in Nara Prefecture, sets off with children's portable shrines and armored warriors along Tenri Hondori and covers 4 km each way to the Otabisho and back, in a colorful parade of some 200 people. In the morning a child in court dress rides in on horseback with attendants from Tamachi and presents new-harvest rice plants at the rites. The festival is said to originate in an offering by Emperor Shirakawa in the late Heian period. An eve ceremony is held the day before, and a closing ceremony the day after.
Sources
- OfficialIsonokami Jingu www.isonokami.jp
- OfficialNara Prefecture Official Tourism Site yamatoji.nara-kankou.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.