murmurBonten Festival at Kamo Shrine
Takanezawa Town · Kamo Shrine (known locally as Ikazuchi Shrine), Kuwakubo district
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Takanezawa Town Tourism Association · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sun, Mar 8, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid March
- How the date is set
- The 2nd Sunday of March
- Venue
- Kamo Shrine (known locally as Ikazuchi Shrine), Kuwakubo district
- City
- Takanezawa Town, Tochigi
About
On the second Sunday of March each year, Kamo Shrine in Kuwakubo, Takanezawa, known locally as Ikazuchi Shrine, holds a spring festival praying for a good harvest. Kuwakubo's 4 districts, Wada, Shinden, Shuku and Nishi, each carry a bonten, green bamboo hung with decorations, around the area and present it to the shrine. A bonten is made by joining 2 moso bamboo stalks, and the paper at its head serves to ward off evil. The custom is said to have begun in India and reached Japan through Shingon Buddhism, later becoming an offering for good crops. The climax comes at the offering itself, when the bearers race up with their bonten and ram it hard into the shrine wall, a show of sheer vigor.
Sources
- OfficialTakanezawa Town Tourism Association www.town.takanezawa.tochigi.jp
- OfficialTochigi Prefectural Tourism and Local Products Association (Tochigi Tabi Net) www.tochigiji.or.jp
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.