murmurKawagoe Hatsu-Daishi and Daruma Market at Kitain Temple
Kawagoe City · Kitain Temple, Kosenba-machi, Kawagoe
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Koedo Kawagoe Tourist Association · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sat, Jan 3, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early January
- How the date is set
- Every year on January 3 Roads around the temple are closed to traffic on the day, so visitors are asked to come by train or bus
- Venue
- Kitain Temple, Kosenba-machi, Kawagoe
- City
- Kawagoe City, Saitama
About
On January 3, Kitain Temple, popularly called Kawagoe Daishi, holds Hatsu-Daishi along with a daruma market that fills its grounds. The date is the temple day of Ganzan Daishi (Jie Daishi), known for warding off misfortune, and as the first such day of the year it is called Hatsu-Daishi. Kitain became the head temple of the Tendai school in the Kanto region early in the Edo period. As ever more people came at the start of the year for fire-ritual prayers for good luck, family safety and traffic safety, stalls selling daruma, symbols of getting back up after every fall, came to crowd the grounds. Roads around the temple are closed to vehicles that day, and the grounds are busy with worshippers. Entry to the precincts is free.
Sources
- OfficialKoedo Kawagoe Tourist Association koedo.or.jp
- OfficialKitain Temple (Kawagoe Daishi) kitain.net
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.
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.