murmurHanaku Senbo-e Cherry Blossom Rite (Kinpusen-ji Temple)
Yoshino Town · Zao-do Hall, Kinpusen-ji Temple (Mt. Yoshino)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Kinpusen-ji Temple · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates not confirmed
- 2026
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early April
- How the date is set
- Every year, April 10 – April 12
- Venue
- Zao-do Hall, Kinpusen-ji Temple (Mt. Yoshino)
- City
- Yoshino Town, Nara
About
From April 10 to 12, when Mt. Yoshino's cherries peak, Kinpusenji Temple tells its principal deity that the mountain cherries, sacred to Zao Gongen, are in full bloom, a rite with a thousand-year history. On the 10th, crowds pound rice in a mortar to the Ise Ondo folk song in the Senbon-zuki, and women ascetics lead a great outdoor fire ritual. On the 11th and 12th a procession styled after a feudal lord's train leaves Chikurin-in: footmen in front, then the mountain's demons, costumed children, yamabushi and monks, with the head priest in a palanquin at the rear. The Hanaku Senbo-e service and fire ritual are held at the Zao-do, and in the afternoon the pounded mochi are tossed to the crowd. Everyone is welcome to worship and catch rice cakes.
Sources
- OfficialKinpusen-ji Temple www.kinpusen.or.jp
- OfficialKinpusen-ji Temple www.kinpusen.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.