murmurKikusui Festival (Utsunomiya Futarayama Shrine)
Utsunomiya City · Utsunomiya Futarayama Shrine and central Utsunomiya
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Tochigi Prefectural Tourism & Local Products Association (Tochigi Tabi Net) · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Oct 24–25, 2026 Horseback archery from around 9:00 and around 15:30; procession 9:30–15:30
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually late October
- How the date is set
- The last Sunday of October The last weekend of October (the last Sunday of October and the Saturday before it)
- Venue
- Utsunomiya Futarayama Shrine and central Utsunomiya
- City
- Utsunomiya City, Tochigi
About
The main autumn festival of Utsunomiya Futarayama Shrine dates from 1673, when a lively rite was held in thanks for the deity's protection from fire. It later became an adjunct to the shrine's annual festival and came to be held on the Choyo, or Chrysanthemum, Festival, which gave it the name Kikusui. The deity Toyokiirihiko-no-Mikoto rides through Utsunomiya in a phoenix-topped palanquin, followed by a procession of mounted archers: the lower town on the first day, the upper town on the second. On both days, horseback archery in the traditional style is performed twice, morning and evening, inside the great torii.
Sources
- OfficialTochigi Prefectural Tourism & Local Products Association (Tochigi Tabi Net) www.tochigiji.or.jp
- OfficialUtsunomiya Futarayama Shrine futaarayamajinja.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.