murmurWakamiya Hachiman Shrine Autumn Festival (Naked Festival)
Bungotakada City · Riverbanks around Gyokudama Bridge and the Katsura River, Honmachi
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 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 December
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Held over three days; dates are announced each year
- Venue
- Riverbanks around Gyokudama Bridge and the Katsura River, Honmachi
- City
- Bungotakada City, Oita
About
Wakamiya Hachiman Shrine in Bungotakada holds this naked festival over three days. Its climax is the sacred river crossing: young men in loincloths wade through the bitterly cold Katsura River as a giant torch, about 16 meters long and weighing some 5 tons and billed as the world's largest, blazes above them. The procession heads out (o-kudari) on the first night and returns (o-nobori) on the final night. Times can shift with the tides. The festival is said to have around 940 years of history and is counted among Japan's three great naked festivals.
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.
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.