murmurKochi Matsuri (Koza River Boat Festival)
Kozagawa Town and Kushimoto Town · Koza River, from the river mouth to Kochi Island
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Wakayama Prefecture Tourism Federation · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Jul 25–26, 2026 （Ended） Eve festival July 25, 14:00–20:00; main festival July 26, 10:00–21:00
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually late July
- How the date is set
- The 4th Saturday of July Eve festival on the fourth Saturday of July, main festival the following Sunday
- Venue
- Koza River, from the river mouth to Kochi Island
- City
- Kozagawa Town and Kushimoto Town, Wakayama
About
Kochi Shrine's annual festival uses the Koza River itself as a stage, from the river mouth upstream to Kochi Island, and is a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Watch for the boat ritual: a sacred boat dressed up like an old whaling vessel leads a flotilla of a roofed houseboat, oared rowing boats and a lion-dance boat upriver as boat songs ring out. The festival is said to recall the Kumano navy coming home victorious from the Genpei War, and an Edo-period gazetteer compiled by the Kishu domain claimed that nothing between Hiki and Shingu could match it. Its echoes of the whaling era also make it part of the Japan Heritage story "Living with Whales." The eve usually falls on the fourth Saturday of July and the main festival on the following Sunday, which closes with an evening event and fireworks at the Koza fishing port plaza.
Sources
- OfficialWakayama Prefecture Tourism Federation www.wakayama-kanko.or.jp
- OfficialWakayama Prefecture (press release on PR TIMES) prtimes.jp
- Reference華やかに御舟の水上渡御、和歌山 猛暑の中、古座川で河内祭（共同通信） www.kumanichi.com
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.
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.