Toka Ebisu
十日戎
9–11 January 2027
Osaka
These dates repeat every year, so they are what to expect in 2027 rather than dates the organiser has announced yet — this page is updated as soon as it confirms them. Last held 9–11 January 2026.
Toka Ebisu is the moment Osaka's merchant city asks Ebisu, the god of commerce, for a prosperous year. For three days in early January the approach to Imamiya Ebisu Shrine in Naniwa Ward fills with stalls, drumming and the shrine's own chant of "shobai hanjo de sasa motte koi", which roughly translates as "bring your bamboo and business will boom". Visitors buy a sprig of lucky bamboo, have it decorated with charms by the fuku-musume, the year's chosen "fortune maidens", and carry it home to the shop or office.
The rhythm is fixed: the 9th is Yoi-Ebisu, the eve; the 10th is Hon-Ebisu, the main day; and the 11th is Nokori-Fuku, the "leftover luck". The 10th draws the biggest crowds and the full cast of fuku-musume, so if you want the photographs of the maidens at work, that is the day. If you would rather have your branch decorated without a long wait, the 9th and the 11th offer the same rites with a shorter queue.
The shrine is a short walk from Imamiya-Ebisu Station on the Nankai line or Daikokucho on the Osaka Metro, and the surrounding streets close to traffic for the festival. Come in the evening for the lantern-lit atmosphere and the food stalls, and expect to shuffle rather than stroll on the main day. This is a working prayer for the city's businesses rather than a parade, so there are no floats or dancers; the spectacle is the crowd itself, the shouted blessings and a forest of bamboo held aloft.