{"id":175887,"date":"2026-02-02T15:26:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T06:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=event&#038;p=175887&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2026-02-12T18:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T09:08:14","slug":"hatsukoshin-festival-26","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/event\/hatsukoshin-festival-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Hatsukoshin Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An annual ritual at Sarutahiko Shrine held on the year\u2019s first <em>k\u014dshin<\/em> day (<em>kanoe-saru<\/em> in the sexagenary cycle). On this day, many visitors come to receive handmade monkey masks crafted by Hakata doll artisans. As <em>saru<\/em> (monkey) sounds like <em>saru<\/em> (to leave), the masks are considered good luck charms said to ward off misfortune, traditionally hung at entrances to pray for a safe year.<\/p>\n<p>In 2026, the first <em>k\u014dshin<\/em> falls on Feb 15. Though the shrine grounds are small, the day draws crowds and offers a glimpse into faith traditions deeply rooted in Hakata life.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-143767\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fn_sarutahiko-hatsukoshin_2021-cl-001.jpg?resize=1400%2C844&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Hatsukoshin Festival, \u521d\u5e9a\u7533\uff08\u306f\u3064\u3053\u3046\u3057\u3093\uff09\u733f\u7530\u5f66\u795e\u793e\" width=\"1400\" height=\"844\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fn_sarutahiko-hatsukoshin_2021-cl-001.jpg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fn_sarutahiko-hatsukoshin_2021-cl-001.jpg?resize=300%2C181&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fn_sarutahiko-hatsukoshin_2021-cl-001.jpg?resize=1024%2C617&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fn_sarutahiko-hatsukoshin_2021-cl-001.jpg?resize=768%2C463&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Feb. 15, 2026 (Sun.)<br \/>\n\u2022 7:00~18:00<br \/>\n\u2022 Free entry (monkey mask: \u00a51,500)<br \/>\n\u2022 Sarutahiko Shrine<br \/>\n\u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/6jpbVmZ3HdAbuJ7XA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">1-1-41 Fujisaki, Sawara-ku, Fukuoka<\/a><br \/>\n\u2022 <a href=\"http:\/\/sarutahiko-fukuoka.jp\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/sarutahiko-fukuoka.jp\/index.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kyushu Live \u2013 Fukuoka\u2019s Monkey Mask Festival \u2013 Virtual Tour Japan (January 7, 2022)<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zTAXE1AENn4?si=b8WZsrQcznWBfM0v\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An annual ritual at Sarutahiko Shrine held on the year\u2019s first k\u014dshin day (kanoe-saru in the sexagenary cycle). On this day, many visitors&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30291,"featured_media":143767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-175887","event","type-event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-sawara-ku","event-type-festival","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/175887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/event"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}