A night of giving thanks for the harvest and celebrating community ties through large botamochi
Sanpoku Botamochi Festival
Festival information
EVENT INFORMATION- Dates
- 中浜・杉平：2026/12/02Scheduled岩石：2027/01/12Scheduled
- Season / frequency
- Nakahama and Sugihira hold the festival every year on December 2, and Iwaishi every year on January 12 / Every year
- Location
- Nakahama, Sugihira, and Iwaishi in Murakami City (the Nenbutsu Hall in Nakahama)
- Area
- Niigata Prefecture・Murakami City(From Tokyo: approx. 1 h 40 min–2 h 10 min · bullet train)Prefecture-level estimate to a main station or airport, not the venue. Airport access, check-in and onward travel are extra; remote areas and islands can take much longer.
- Wishes behind the festival
- Last updated
- 2026/10/19
The Sanpoku Botamochi Festival, passed down in Murakami City, is an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. People give thanks for a safe harvest and fishing season by making large botamochi together, offering it, eating it, and delivering it to others.
About Sanpoku Botamochi Festival
The Sanpoku Botamochi Festival is an event where people give thanks for completing the harvest and fishing season safely by gathering at the local guardian shrine to make and eat a large botamochi.
In some communities, participants also stay overnight at the venue in a practice known as okomori.
In addition to being offered to deities and ancestors or placed on altars, botamochi is delivered to newlyweds and newly built homes, helping mark important milestones in the community.
It is designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.
Source: 国指定文化財等データベース
Festival highlights
A highlight is the series of customs in which local people make large botamochi and offer or eat it according to its intended purpose.
In Nakahama, they hang a scroll in the Nenbutsu Hall, share sacred sake, and pass on the touya role. Afterward, they make botamochi using a surikogi pestle made from an enoki tree on the .
A distinctive feature of the festival is that newlyweds and people who have married into the community are encouraged to eat a large amount, and botamochi is delivered to households celebrating a special occasion.
A night of giving thanks for the harvest and celebrating community ties through large botamochi
What to expect
In Nakahama, for example, each household makes botamochi and offers it to deities and ancestors, and in the evening the young men gather at the Nenbutsu Hall.
They hang a scroll, share sacred sake, and pass on the touya role. Using a surikogi pestle, they make botamochi for offerings, celebrations, and eating.
They then deliver botamochi to nearby households connected with the event, as well as to newlyweds and newly built homes. Finally, they clear the altar, and the family eats the botamochi that was offered.
Location and access
- Venue and address
Held in Nakahama, Sugihira, and Iwaishi in Murakami City.
In Nakahama, the event takes place at the Nenbutsu Hall.
Source: 地域文化データベース – 新潟文化物語
Address Nakahama, Sugihira, and Iwaishi, Murakami City, Niigata Prefecture
Dates and season
- Nakahama–Sugihira
2026/12/02
- Rock
2027/01/12
It is held every year on December 2 in Nakahama and Sugihira, and on January 12 in Iwaishi.
In 2026, December 2 is the festival date in Nakahama and Sugihira, and January 12 is the date in Iwaishi.
The festival date varies by area, so check the district you plan to visit.
Accommodation and hotels PR
Showing nearby accommodation.
Prices and availability are current at the time of retrieval. For multi-night stays, only the first night’s price is shown. Confirm the final price and directions to the venue with the booking provider. Select your dates again when using the area search link. Search area: within 3 km of Central Niigata Prefecture / Murakami City (the search is not centered on the festival venue)
Nearby attractions
イヨボヤ会館
新潟県村上市の博物館
Origins and History of Sanpoku Botamochi Festival
The event is thought to have developed from the custom of giving thanks for one's livelihood or praying to the local guardian deity after the harvest or at the beginning of the year, incorporating elements of a ritual involving cooked rice.
It is described not only as a prayer for an abundant harvest, but also as an event connected with recognizing young people as members of the community and granting them social acceptance.
In 1986, it was selected as an intangible folk cultural property requiring measures such as documentation, and in 1999 it was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.
Official information
The Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Database of Nationally Designated Cultural Properties features the Sanpoku Botamochi Festival as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.
It lists the Nakahama Botamochi Festival Preservation Society, the Sugihira Botamochi Festival Preservation Society, and the Iwaishi Botamochi Preservation Society as preservation groups.
Information on the festival dates gives December 2 for Nakahama and Sugihira, and January 12 for Iwaishi.
Sanpoku Botamochi Festival at a Glance
The Sanpoku Botamochi Festival is a festival in which people express their gratitude for the harvest and fishing season through large botamochi, making, offering, eating, and delivering it together in the community.
In Nakahama, events centered on the Nenbutsu Hall include passing on the touya role, staying overnight in okomori, and delivering botamochi to newlyweds and newly built homes.
Nakahama and Sugihira traditionally hold the festival on December 2, and Iwaishi on January 12.
Japanese Festivals.jp Editorial Team
Celebrating local culture and helping you discover a side of Japan you never knew.
Article updated: 2026/10/19
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