🏮 Nihonmatsu no Chochin Matsuri

二本松の提灯祭り

Nihonmatsu, Fukushima (Nihonmatsu Shrine) · Every year on the 1st Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of October

MikoshiBon odoriTraditional performing artsFood stallsFloats

19 days to go
Rooms around Nihonmatsu, Fukushima fill up while the festival is on.

The Nihonmatsu Chochin Festival is the annual grand festival of Nihonmatsu Shrine in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture. Counted among Japan's three great lantern festivals, it is designated an important intangible folk cultural property of Fukushima Prefecture together with its festival music. Every year, over three days on the first Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of October, more than 300 red lanterns are hung on each of seven taikodai (drum floats) from the neighborhoods of Honcho, Kamegaya-cho, Takeda-cho, Matsuoka-cho, Nezaki-cho, Wakamiya-cho, and Kakunai, and are pulled through the streets. The festival's origins date back to 1664, when Niwa Mitsushige enshrined Nihonmatsu Shrine as the main guardian shrine of Nihonmatsu Domain, giving it a tradition of more than 360 years. At first it centered on a mikoshi (portable shrine) procession and dancing, but later drum floats appeared and it developed into its present form. Each neighborhood lights its lanterns from the sacred fire of Nihonmatsu Shrine and parades while playing its own festival music, such as the Sunagiri. On the third day, joint processions of three and then four neighborhoods take place, and the distinct character of each neighborhood stands out.