Hayasuhime Shrine Summer Festival 2026: Guide & Tickets
Kyushu-Okinawa · OitaFestival
The summer festival of a fishing-district shrine where worshippers give up eating octopus to have a wish granted.
Overview
Hayasuhime Shrine (早吸日女神社), known locally as Seki no Gongen, is the symbol of the Saganoseki fishing district on the eastern tip of Oita City. Its summer festival is the district’s main event of the year.
The shrine is nationally known for “tako-tachi kigan”, a practice in which worshippers give up eating octopus for the duration of a wish and offer paper pictures of octopus in place of the usual wooden ema plaques.
Saganoseki itself is famous well beyond Oita for seki-aji and seki-saba — horse mackerel and mackerel caught in the fast tidal water of the Bungo Channel — so the festival comes with unusually good fish.
When and Where
The 2026 festival ran from 25 to 30 July, with the main ceremonies concentrated on Saturday 25 July and the fireworks closing the run on 30 July.
The shrine is at 3329 Oaza Saganoseki, Oita City, Oita Prefecture. Events spread through the surrounding Saganoseki district, and the closing fireworks are launched from the Komiya red-lighthouse jetty at Saganoseki Port.
What to Expect
The main day moves from morning parade to afternoon procession to a night of kagura.
- The day opens from 08:00 with a marching band parade by Saganoseki Elementary School pupils through the district.
- In the afternoon the shrine mikoshi processes through central Saganoseki, flanked front and back by floats from the Honmachi and Nishimachi neighbourhoods.
- The “Seki no Yoichi” evening market fills the precincts with stalls run by the local shopping street, the Saganoseki fisheries co-op branch and eastern Oita business youth groups.
- Iwato kagura is performed at night on a stage set up in front of the shrine’s worship hall.
- The festival closes on 30 July with the “Seki no Hanabi” fireworks over Saganoseki Port.
Tickets and Admission
The shrine and the festival are free to attend. There is no ticketed seating.
Enquiries go to the Oita Chamber of Commerce Eastern Branch on 097-521-1131. The exact fireworks start time for 2026 was not published on the official listing.
Tips for Visitors
- Saganoseki is about 80 minutes by bus from JR Oita Station — check the last bus back before you settle in for the kagura.
- Eat before you leave: seki-aji and seki-saba are the reason many Japanese visitors come to Saganoseki at all.
- Iwato kagura runs late into the night and is the most distinctive part of the programme; it is performed outdoors in front of the worship hall.
- If you visit outside festival dates, the shrine’s octopus ema are worth seeing on their own.
Access and Map
| Dates | 25–30 July 2026; main ceremonies 25 July, closing fireworks 30 July |
|---|---|
| Venue | Hayasuhime Shrine and the surrounding Saganoseki district |
| Address | 3329 Oaza Saganoseki, Oita City, Oita |
| Access | Oita Bus bound for Saganoseki from JR Oita Station, about 80 minutes, then about 10 minutes on foot. About 60 minutes by car from JR Oita Station |
| Admission | Free |
| Official site | visit-oita.jp |
Source: Tourism Oita (Oita Prefecture official tourism site)
Image: Photo: STA3816 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 — license
