murmurKen Hachimangu Spring Festival (Kenka Matsuri, the "Fighting Festival")
Oita City · Ken Hachimangu Shrine, Tsurusaki Park grounds and around (Higashi-Tsurusaki, Oita)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Oita City · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sun, Apr 5, 2026 （Ended） 12:00-19:00; floats gather at Tsurusaki Park grounds around 17:00
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early April
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Usually a Sunday in early April; the date is announced each year
- Venue
- Ken Hachimangu Shrine, Tsurusaki Park grounds and around (Higashi-Tsurusaki, Oita)
- City
- Oita City, Oita
About
Each spring, Ken Hachimangu Shrine in the Tsurusaki district of Oita City holds its grand festival, better known as the Kenka Matsuri, or Fighting Festival. The name comes from the floats, each decorated with a sacred sword representing the deity, which crash into one another to loud shouts. Drummers beat away on top while dancers perform holding sakaki branches in both hands. Around 5 p.m. the floats gather at the Tsurusaki Park grounds, where you can see the clashes right in front of you. The festival goes back more than 370 years, and the shrine is about a 17-minute walk from JR Tsurusaki Station.
Sources
- OfficialOita City www.city.oita.oita.jp
- OfficialTourism Oita (official Oita Prefecture 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.