murmurKorei Taisai Grand Festival (Taga Matsuri) at Taga Taisha Shrine
Taga Town · Taga Taisha Shrine and surrounding area, Taga
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Taga Taisha Shrine · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Wed, Apr 22, 2026 （Ended） Main rite from 8:30 a.m.; procession departs at 10:00 a.m.
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually late April
- How the date is set
- Every year on April 22 April 22 every year, with preliminary rites from January 3 and a closing rite on April 23
- Venue
- Taga Taisha Shrine and surrounding area, Taga
- City
- Taga Town, Shiga
About
The Korei Taisai is the most important festival of the year at Taga Taisha. Locals call it Taga Matsuri, or the horse festival, since so many riders take part: the procession of about 500 people includes more than 40 horses along with attendants of the portable shrine and the imperial-style palanquin. The main rite starts at 8:30 a.m. and the procession leaves at 10:00. The big moment is the Honwatari at 3:30 p.m., when everyone heads into the shrine together, and at 5:00 p.m. priests and participants walk three times around the main hall in the Sunset Rite to close the day. The leading roles, the batonin and the otsukaiden, are assigned at a ceremony on January 3, which starts the preparations. The festival is named in records going back to the Kamakura period. Taga-taisha-mae Station on the Ohmi Railway is about a 10-minute walk away.
Sources
- OfficialTaga Taisha Shrine www.tagataisya.or.jp
- OfficialTaga Taisha Shrine www.tagataisya.or.jp
- OfficialBiwako Visitors Bureau (Shiga tourism) 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.