murmurSekki-ichi Winter Market (Chinkoro Market)
Tokamachi City · Grounds of Echigo-Tsumari Kouryukan Kinare
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Niigata Prefecture Tourism Association (Niigata Kanko Navi) · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sun, Jan 11, 2026 / Sun, Jan 18, 2026 （Ended） 10:00 to 14:00
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid January
- How the date is set
- Announced each year Held on two Sundays in January; the dates are announced each year
- Venue
- Grounds of Echigo-Tsumari Kouryukan Kinare
- City
- Tokamachi City, Niigata
About
Tokamachi's winter Sekki-ichi is an old-style market whose big draw is chinkoro, tiny figures shaped from rice-flour dough (shinko) that give it its nickname, Chinkoro-ichi. Most are dogs or zodiac animals about 3 cm tall, and because each is made by hand, every face is a little different, so picking a favorite is part of the fun. They were once displayed as lucky charms or toasted over the hearth and eaten, but now they're made as decorations. The market began as a place where farmers sold everyday tools and folk crafts of bamboo and straw made as winter side work. Long lines form every year and the chinkoro usually sell out in the morning. It's held outdoors, so wrap up warm.
Sources
- OfficialNiigata Prefecture 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.