murmurSanno Festival (Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine)
Otsu City · Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine and the Sakamoto area
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Apr 12–15, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid April
- How the date is set
- Every year, April 12 – April 15 Main rites April 12–14; the festival closes with a rite on April 15
- Venue
- Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine and the Sakamoto area
- City
- Otsu City, Shiga
About
For several days in cherry blossom season, Hiyoshi Taisha in Sakamoto, Otsu, the head shrine of all the Sanno shrines in Japan, holds its annual festival, one of the three great festivals of Shiga. On the night of April 12, bearers bring portable shrines down a steep slope from the mountaintop shrine to the Eastern Main Hall, lit only by torches. On the afternoon of April 13, children in armor offer flowers in the Hanawatari, and that night four portable shrines are shaken hard and then dropped together from a height in the Yoimiya-otoshi. On April 14 the main rite takes place at the Western Main Hall with the head priest of Enryakuji attending; in the afternoon seven portable shrines tour the town and then go out onto Lake Biwa by boat, where offerings are made on the water.
Sources
- OfficialHiyoshi Taisha Shrine www.hiyoshitaisha.jp
- OfficialBiwako Otsu Tourism Association otsu.or.jp
- OfficialBiwako Visitors Bureau (Shiga Tourism Information) 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.
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.