Oita Mikata Fes 2026: Three Days of Oita Food in Shinjuku Okubo Park
From July 24 to 26, 2026, the second edition of the Oita Mikata Fes takes over Shinjuku Okubo Park for three days of Oita Prefecture food, drink, and regional produce. Hours are 12:00 to 20:00 on July 24 and 25, and 12:00 to 18:00 on the final day, July 26. Admission is free. The festival is organised by the Oita Mikata Fes Executive Committee and the Kabukicho Town Management organisation, with the backing of Shinjuku City, Oita Prefecture, and a long list of corporate sponsors that reads like a roll call of Oita's brewing and food industries.
This is a food festival with a charity edge. The official text makes clear that a portion of sales is donated to Saga-seki, the Oita district recovering from recent disaster, and the festival frames itself as a way to support Saga-seki's recovery while eating Oita's food. The messaging is gentle, but it is the reason the event exists in this specific form, in this specific year.
The food: shark burgers, abalone, and Oita beef
The official line-up is a roster of Oita's regional specialities rather than generic Japanese festival food. The Saga-seki-specific seafood includes shark burgers (same burger, a regional Oita dish), abalone, turbo shells (sazae), and Saga-seki-style takoyaki. The wider Oita regional menu includes Oita beef steak, Oita toriten (Oita's signature chicken tempura), Yoshino's torimeshi (chicken rice), and Sobuko no yakisoba (fried noodles). Drinks cover kabosu sour, local sake, shochu, regional sweets, and a long list of specialty products. The full sponsor list, which is unusual for a festival and worth noting, includes Oita Bank, Oita Trinita (the J-League club), Neo Mars, Take Five, Bungo Meijo, Fundokin Shoyu, Cable TV Saiki, Hanawarai, Kuge Honke, Fujii Jozo, Kyushu Nyugyo (Midori Milk), Yatsushika Shuzo, and Yamada Suisan. In practice that means the drinks stalls are run by actual Oita brewers, not generic beer distributors.
Why Okubo Park, and why a second edition
Shinjuku Okubo Park sits at 2-43 Kabukicho, the eastern edge of the Kabukicho entertainment district, and it has been redeveloped in recent years as a managed event space. The first Oita Mikata Fes ran in 2025. The 2026 second edition keeps the same format and venue, which suggests the first year drew well enough to justify a return. The festival's location at Okubo Park rather than a central Shinjuku street is a deliberate choice: the park allows for longer hours (12:00 to 20:00), food trucks, and a layout that can hold the cooking equipment for dishes like Oita beef steak, which a closed-street festival would struggle to accommodate.
The nearest station and how to plan the visit
The closest station is Shin-Okubo on the JR Yamanote Line, one stop north of Shinjuku. From Shin-Okubo station the park is a 3-minute walk. The Yamanote loop makes Shin-Okubo one of the easiest stations in Tokyo to reach from the major hotel districts. From Shinjuku Station itself, the walk east to Okubo Park is roughly 12 minutes through Kabukicho.
The festival runs across a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and the crowd profile shifts with the day. Friday July 24 is the after-work crowd from the Shinjuku office towers and runs until 20:00. Saturday July 25 is the densest day, and it overlaps with both the Shinjuku Eisa Festival on Shinjuku-dori and the Sarabanji Music Fes at SANAGI Shinjuku, which means the whole Shinjuku east side is busy that day. Sunday July 26 closes at 18:00, the calmest of the three days and the best day for families who want to eat without a long queue.
The cause: Saga-seki recovery support
The festival is not just food. The organisers state clearly that a portion of sales is donated to Saga-seki for recovery support. Saga-seki is a coastal district in Oita, and the festival frames itself as a "cheer for Saga-seki" event. The 2026 edition is the second time the festival has run with this specific framing, and the corporate sponsor list (Oita Bank, Oita Trinita, Oita's brewing companies) reads as a coordinated regional support effort rather than a generic regional food fair. Visitors who want to support the cause simply by eating are doing so by buying from the stalls.
Practical Details
- Dates: July 24 (Friday) to 26 (Sunday), 2026
- Time: 12:00 to 20:00 on July 24 and 25; 12:00 to 18:00 on July 26 (final day)
- Venue: Shinjuku Okubo Park, 2-43 Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
- Nearest station: Shin-Okubo (JR Yamanote Line), 3 minutes on foot; JR Shinjuku east exit, 12 minutes on foot
- Price: Free entry; food and drink at stall prices
- Highlights: Shark burger, abalone, sazae, Saga-seki takoyaki, Oita beef steak, toriten, kabosu sour, Oita sake and shochu
- Cause: Portion of sales donated to Saga-seki recovery
- Website: Shinjuku City official event page
