murmurShigaraki Tanuki Day
Koka City · Around Shigaraki town, Koka
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Shigaraki Tourism Association · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sun, Nov 8, 2026 Prayer ceremony at 15:00 (related events October 2 - November 30)
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early November
- How the date is set
- Every year on November 8 Tanuki Day is November 8 every year, with related events running through October and November
- Venue
- Around Shigaraki town, Koka
- City
- Koka City, Shiga
About
November 8 is Shigaraki Tanuki Day, set by the pottery town of Shigaraki as a play on the number eight and registered with the Japan Anniversary Association. The town's ceramic tanuki (raccoon dogs), familiar outside shops and in gardens, are said to bring eight kinds of good fortune, and this is the day to thank them once a year. On November 8 itself, tanuki from the local kilns visit the pottery shrine on Mt. Atago on behalf of tanuki all over Japan for a prayer ceremony, and anyone may come and pray. For roughly two months around the date, the town runs tanuki events: bring the tanuki from your home back to Shigaraki for a homecoming certificate, try tanuki-themed food, ride the tanuki-decorated Shigaraki Kohgen Railway train or enter the photo contest. Shigaraki Station on the Shigaraki Kohgen Railway is where most visitors arrive.
Sources
- OfficialShigaraki Tourism Association www.e-shigaraki.org
- OfficialShigaraki Tourism Association www.e-shigaraki.org
- OfficialBiwako Visitors Bureau (Shiga Official Tourism Site) www.biwako-visitors.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.
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.