murmurJohana Hikiyama Festival
Nanto City · Central Johana
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Gokayama NANTO Tourism Organization (Tabi Nanto) · Last checked: Oct 10, 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 early May
- How the date is set
- Every year, May 4 – May 5 Eve on the 4th, main festival on the 5th. In light rain the floats are covered; cancelled in stormy weather
- Venue
- Central Johana
- City
- Nanto City, Toyama
About
Johana Shinmeigu Shrine in Nanto stages its spring grand festival every May 4 and 5. Around 300 years old, it is an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan and is also inscribed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. On the eve, May 4, sacred figures go on display at each district's float lodging, and young men sing iori-uta as an offering at the shrine's temporary resting place. The main day, May 5, centers on an old-style procession welcoming the gods: a lion dance, ritual halberds and parasols lead the portable shrines, and six floats bearing sacred figures plus the iori-yatai follow as escorts. The iori-yatai are small floats modeled on teahouses of Kyoto's Gion and similar places, and inside them singers perform iori-uta, songs with roots in Edo ballads, accompanied by shamisen and bamboo flute. After dark the floats turn into lantern floats.
Sources
- OfficialGokayama NANTO Tourism Organization (Tabi Nanto) www.tabi-nanto.jp
- OfficialToyama Tourism Organization (Toyama Kanko Navi) www.info-toyama.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.