murmurKuki Lantern Festival (Tenno-sama)
Kuki City · Around the west exit of Kuki Station
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Kuki City (Commerce, Industry and Tourism Division) · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sun, Jul 12, 2026 / Sat, Jul 18, 2026 （Ended） About 12:40–21:00 each day
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid July
- How the date is set
- Every year, July 12 – July 18 Held on two days each year, 12 and 18 July (no events on the days in between)
- Venue
- Around the west exit of Kuki Station
- City
- Kuki City, Saitama
About
Every July 12 and July 18, Yakumo Shrine, guardian shrine of the old town of Kuki, holds its festival. Seven neighborhoods each put out one float, and the floats change completely between day and night. In daylight they tour the town decorated with figures from myth and other stories; toward evening the figures come down and each float is rebuilt as a lantern float hung on all four sides with around 500 lanterns. After 8 p.m. the lantern floats gather at the rotary by the west exit of Kuki Station, where they are pushed close together and spun around, the festival's biggest moment, watched by crowds packing the station square. Tradition says it began after the great eruption of Mount Asama in 1783 destroyed mulberry and other summer crops, when people pulled floats through town to shake off hardship and worry and pray for a good harvest; it has continued for more than 240 years.
Sources
- OfficialKuki City (Commerce, Industry and Tourism Division) www.city.kuki.lg.jp
- OfficialKuki City Tourism Association www.kuki-kanko.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.