murmurHarvest Festival of Sonai and Hoshitate, Iriomote Island
Taketomi Town · Sonai and Hoshitate villages, Iriomote Island
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau (Okinawa Story) · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Jul 28–29, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually late July
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year
- Venue
- Sonai and Hoshitate villages, Iriomote Island
- City
- Taketomi Town, Okinawa
About
The villages of Sonai and Hoshitate on Iriomote Island hold their harvest festival over two days, thanking the gods for the year's crops and asking for a good harvest and prosperity in the year to come. The tradition goes back several centuries, and both villages hold their rites at the same time. The finale is a great tug-of-war after dark. In Hoshitate, villagers make the giant rope completely by hand every year, and it is used just once, for that tug-of-war. Many Hoshitate people who live away from the island return for the festival to keep it going. Exact times are not made public, and this is a community ritual rather than a tourist event, so visitors should respect village customs and rules.
Sources
- OfficialOkinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau (Okinawa Story) www.okinawastory.jp
- OfficialTaketomi Town Tourism Association painusima.com
- OfficialTaketomi Town (official note blog) taketomi-town.note.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.