Murakami Grand Festival

Festival highlights

A highlight is seeing 19 shagyari floats, decorated with carvings, lacquerwork, and gold and silver ornaments, parade through the city center.

The floats sway up and down and weave from side to side as they move, each decorated with a display that its neighborhood is proud of.

Some displays include mechanical features, letting visitors compare the designs of each float.

Another distinctive feature is the long procession, led by taiko drums and followed by mikoshi, arauma, and a children’s procession.

Source: 村上大祭の見どころ - 村上市公式ウェブサイト

A traditional castle-town festival featuring mikoshi and 19 oshagiri

What to expect

The festival procession includes a lead taiko drum, a children’s procession, mikoshi, arauma, and other participants, followed by floats from each neighborhood.

The main festival is described as beginning with drums announcing the start in the middle of the night, followed by floats gathering in front of the shrine early in the morning, then the mikoshi setting off at the signal of fireworks.

Along the route, visitors can enjoy the arauma advancing to shouts and the different displays on the floats from each neighborhood.

Location and access

Venue and address

Senami Haguro Shrine and Murakami City

Event venue 新潟県村上市 西奈彌羽黒神社

This map uses the venue name. Check the official guide for the event area and entrances.

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Dates and season

Season

Every year on July 6 and 7

Frequency

Every year

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Nearby attractions

Oshagiri Kaikan (Murakami City Local History Museum) is recommended as a place to learn about the floats of Murakami Grand Festival.

The museum displays 4 “oshagiri” floats that are pulled in the festival year-round, and also exhibits materials on successive lords of the Murakami domain, swords, armor, and more.

Senami Haguro Shrine is the center of the festival, and its history includes its transfer to its present location in Kan’ei 10.

Museums and art museumsMurakami City

イヨボヤ会館

新潟県村上市の博物館

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写真：Rebirth10 / CC BY-SA 4.0

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Museums and art museumsMurakami City

縄文の里・朝日　奥三面歴史交流館

新潟県村上市の博物館・美術館のスポットです。

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Attractions in the same municipality. Check each attraction’s official website for travel distances from the venue and current opening information.

Origins and History of Murakami Grand Festival

Murakami Grand Festival is said to have originated in Kan’ei 10 (1633), when, to celebrate the Murakami domain lord’s relocation of Senami Haguro Shrine to its present site, people from Omachi loaded a taiko drum onto a handcart and paraded through town.

During the Edo period, it was held on day 6 of lunar month 6 and the 7th; from the Meiji period onward, it shifted to the 6th and 7th of July 6 on the Gregorian calendar.

The 14 arauma are associated with a story about the triumphant return of Honjo Shigenaga, the Murakami Castle lord during the Warring States period.

Source: 村上大祭の由来 - 村上市公式ウェブサイト

Official information

The official Murakami Grand Festival website is managed by the Murakami Festival Preservation Society.

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Murakami Grand Festival at a Glance

Murakami Grand Festival is a traditional event held as the annual grand festival of Senami Haguro Shrine, with mikoshi, arauma (decorated horses), a children’s procession, and 19 oshagiri parading through the castle town.

Floats featuring elaborate carvings, lacquerwork, and displays have been passed down in each neighborhood, offering a sense of the festival’s history and the skill of its artisans.

Its origins date back to a celebration of the shrine’s relocation in 1633, and it has been designated a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property and inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.