murmurHoran Enya (New Year Boat Festival)
Bungotakada City · Mouth of the Katsura River
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Tourism Oita (Oita Prefecture official tourism site) · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sun, Jan 4, 2026 （Ended） Boats set out from the Isomachi riverbank around 9:30; ends around 10:50
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early January
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Held at New Year; the date is announced each year
- Venue
- Mouth of the Katsura River
- City
- Bungotakada City, Oita
About
At the mouth of the Katsura River in Bungotakada, the new year opens with a bold display of nerve. Young oarsmen wearing nothing but loincloths jump one after another into the freezing winter river to collect the gifts and offerings that onlookers hold out to them. Each leap brings a roar from the banks. Horan Enya prays for plentiful fish and safe voyages; it is thought to have started in the mid-Edo period and has continued for over 300 years. Oita Prefecture lists it as a selected intangible folk cultural property.
Sources
- OfficialTourism Oita (Oita Prefecture official tourism site) www.visit-oita.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.