murmurNanyo Chrysanthemum Festival
Nanyo City · Miyauchi venue (around Kumano Taisha Shrine) and Flower Park venue (Nanyo Central Flower Park)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Nanyo Chrysanthemum Festival Executive Committee · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Oct 9 – Nov 8, 2026 9:00–16:00
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually in October
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Early to mid-October at the Miyauchi venue, then mid-October to early November at the Flower Park venue
- Venue
- Miyauchi venue (around Kumano Taisha Shrine) and Flower Park venue (Nanyo Central Flower Park)
- City
- Nanyo City, Yamagata
About
Nanyo's chrysanthemum festival has the longest history of any festival in Japan built around kiku-ningyo, figures dressed in living chrysanthemums. Chrysanthemum growing here goes back to the days of the Uesugi domain; the first chrysanthemum figures were displayed at a restaurant in Miyauchi in 1912, and the first flower show followed a year later. The craft of making the figures has been handed down through the Kikuchi family. The festival runs at two sites: first around Kumano Taisha Shrine in Miyauchi, then at Nanyo Central Flower Park. At the park you can admire figures clad in many kinds of chrysanthemums, like richly colored kimono, and a show of about 1,000 pots of large blooms raised by growers from across Yamagata. Nanyo calls itself the City of Chrysanthemums, and the chrysanthemum is its official city flower.
Sources
- OfficialNanyo Chrysanthemum Festival Executive Committee nanyo-kiku.jp
- OfficialYamagata Prefectural Tourism Association (Yamagata Kanko) yamagatakanko.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.