murmurHina Nagashi Doll-Floating Ritual at Awashima Shrine
Wakayama City · Awashima Shrine, Kada
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Awashima Shrine · Last checked: Oct 11, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Tue, Mar 3, 2026 （Ended） From noon
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually early March
- How the date is set
- Every year on March 3 The ritual begins at noon; visitors are asked not to come by car
- Venue
- Awashima Shrine, Kada
- City
- Wakayama City, Wakayama
About
At noon on March 3, three small boats of plain white wood leave Awashima Shrine in Kada, Wakayama City, carrying hina dolls out to sea. Aboard are dolls offered from all over Japan and paper figures (katashiro) on which people have written their wishes; after the chief priest purifies them, the boats are set adrift. Loading impurity and misfortune onto dolls and floating them away is thought to continue an ancient purification custom of early March, which merged with an Edo-period belief that every floated doll eventually washes ashore at Awashima Shrine in Kada. The shrine is known for its deity of women's recovery from illness, safe childbirth and the blessing of children, and it even traces the word hinamatsuri to a "Sukunahikona festival" named after its deity.
Sources
- OfficialAwashima Shrine www.kada.jp
- OfficialWakayama Prefecture Tourism Federation www.wakayama-kanko.or.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.
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.