2025 Nanjo City Muchi Festival
The Nanjo City Ufuzato Muchi Festival was held on Sunday, December 14, 2025, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Ozsato Gusuku Site Park Outdoor Stage Plaza in Nanjo City.
The weather throughout the afternoon was mostly cloudy, windy, and cool, with temperatures around 17°C / 63°F. There were brief moments of sunshine that added a pleasant contrast to the crisp winter air which made it an ideal day to gather outdoors.
Muchi Santa Event Stage MC
The event featured a muchi-Santa as the event stage MC and a variety of local performances, including traditional dance, song, shishimai lion dance, Okinawan performing arts including Eisa drumming. Families and neighbors and visitors all gathered to enjoy the performances in a relaxed and welcoming community atmosphere.
Okinawa Life YouTube clip from the Ufuzato Muchi Festival - Shishimai performance
One of the main activities of the festival was the Okinawan dark brown sugar making experience, which was offered free of charge and enjoyed by visitors of all ages.
Raw sugar cane juice being boiled and strained by hand in the Okinawan Dark Brown Sugar making experience
The main attraction and most popular activity was the muchi making experience. Muchi making this year was available for 500 yen and included guidance on making five pieces of muchi to take home and enjoy.
For those who may not be familiar, muchi (pronounced moo-chee) is a traditional Okinawan sticky rice dessert, known for its distinctive aroma created by steaming the flavored sticky rice batter in shell ginger leaves. The fragrant scent of muchi filled the air throughout the park venue and gave the festival an unmistakable character.
Muchi making and waiting for the final muchi bundles to be removed from the steamer basket
In addition to the stage events and food experiences, visitors could be seen playing rounds of ground golf nearby, lining up at food trucks, climbing on the playground, and chatting with friends and neighbors. The combination of cool weather, local performances, and shared traditions gave this event a distinctly warm small community feeling.
A lively scene at the festival venue filled with gentle winter air and the scent of muchi
Okinawa Life would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone who worked hard to make the Ufuzato Muchi Festival possible. Special thanks go to the Nanjo City Women’s Association for their facilitation of the main Muchi Making Experience, and to all the performers, organizers, and community members who helped create such an enjoyable event.
Okinawa Life, 2025/12/14