murmurJapan's Biggest Imoni Party Festival
Yamagata City · Mamigasaki riverbank (near Sogetsu Bridge)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Japan's Biggest Imoni Party Festival Council · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Sun, Sep 20, 2026 （Ended）
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually mid September
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Usually the day before Respect for the Aged Day in September
- Venue
- Mamigasaki riverbank (near Sogetsu Bridge)
- City
- Yamagata City, Yamagata
About
In Yamagata, autumn means imoni-kai — gatherings on the riverbanks to cook and share imoni, a hearty taro stew. This festival takes the tradition to the extreme. Held on the Mamigasaki riverbank in Yamagata City, every September, it began in 1989 with the slogan "Let's hold an imoni party in Japan's biggest pot." Today's pot, the third "Nabetaro," measures 6.5 meters across and was funded by a nationwide crowdfunding campaign to mark the festival's 30th edition in 2018. Construction backhoes, dismantled and thoroughly cleaned, stir around 30,000 servings at once. Bowls are available with an advance booking or a same-day ticket, and the site also has paid tent seating, food and sponsor stalls, and stage events.
Sources
- OfficialJapan's Biggest Imoni Party Festival Council imoni-fes.jp
- OfficialYamagata Prefecture Tourism Association 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.