murmurSakenotsu Tondo (New Year Fire Rite of Sakenotsu)
Tottori City · Sakenotsu Fishing Port (Ketaka-cho, Tottori City)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Tottori Prefecture Tourism Federation · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates not confirmed
- 2026
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid January
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Held every year in mid-January
- Venue
- Sakenotsu Fishing Port (Ketaka-cho, Tottori City)
- City
- Tottori City, Tottori
About
In mid-January, after the New Year celebrations settle down, Sakenotsu fishing port in the Ketaka area of Tottori City holds a fire festival. First, naked boys make the rounds, purifying the tondo and then every house in the village one by one. Early the following morning the New Year decorations are set alight to see the year god off, with prayers for good health and plentiful fish in the months ahead. What makes Sakenotsu different is the yakishiro, a cone-shaped, hut-like structure around 4 to 5 meters high with sacred straw decorations wound around it before it is burned. Modeled on the old imiya seclusion huts, this one-of-a-kind form is why the rite is listed as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan.
Sources
- OfficialTottori Prefecture Tourism Federation www.tottori-guide.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.
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.