murmurKanuma Autumn Festival
Kanuma City · Imamiya Shrine and central Kanuma
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Tochigi Prefectural Tourism and Local Products Association (Tochigi Tabi Net) · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Oct 10–11, 2026 （Ended） Day 1: floats enter the shrine from 12:30, depart from 17:00 / Day 2: float parade from 14:00, buttsuke music battle from 17:55
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early October
- How the date is set
- The 2nd Saturday of October Held over the second Saturday and Sunday of October
- Venue
- Imamiya Shrine and central Kanuma
- City
- Kanuma City, Tochigi
About
Imamiya Shrine's autumn festival in Kanuma keeps alive traditions handed down since the Edo period. Its float event is an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan and one of the Yama, Hoko, Yatai float festivals on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. For two days, 27 floats clad all over in carvings, nicknamed moving Yomeimon Gates, travel the streets. Day one starts around midday as the floats pass under the torii into the shrine grounds, and toward evening they light their lanterns all at once and return to their neighborhoods. Day two features a citizens' parade, followed by all 27 floats rolling in line down the festival road. Don't miss buttsuke, when several floats square off at a crossroads and pound out festival music at each other into the night.
Sources
- OfficialTochigi Prefectural Tourism and Local Products Association (Tochigi Tabi Net) www.tochigiji.or.jp
- OfficialKanuma Autumn Festival Executive Committee www.buttsuke.com
Last checked: Oct 10, 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.