murmurIwafune Grand Festival
Murakami City · Ishifune Shrine and the Iwafune district
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Murakami City Tourism Association · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Oct 18–19, 2026
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid October
- How the date is set
- Every year, October 18 – October 19 Eve festival on the first day, main festival on the second
- Venue
- Ishifune Shrine and the Iwafune district
- City
- Murakami City, Niigata
About
In the harbor town of Iwafune in Murakami, Ishifune Shrine holds its grand annual festival each autumn, with an eve festival and a main day praying for safe voyages, good catches and a peaceful community. The thing to see is 9 lavishly decorated floats being hauled around town, with the upper and lower halves of Iwafune swapping the order every other year, and the whole affair has the rough energy of a port festival. It stems from a legend that the shrine's deity arrived in a stone boat. Its exact origins are unclear, but medieval documents mention it and it has over five centuries of history. Once fixed by the lunar calendar, its date changed to the present one in the Meiji era. The shagiri float procession and tomoyama rites are a Niigata Prefecture Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Food stalls line the streets and temporary parking is available.
Sources
- OfficialMurakami City Tourism Association www.sake3.com
- OfficialNiigata Prefectural Tourism Association (Niigata Kanko Navi) niigata-kankou.or.jp
Last checked: Oct 11, 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.