Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival

Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival

The Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival is held yearly on the first Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of October. 

The highlight of the festival is the procession of festival floats during the first evening. Seven large festival floats adorned with lanterns and filled with locals playing taiko drums make their way through the streets of Nihonmatsu City, filling the streets with festival music as they move.  The final destination for the floats is the Nihonmatsu Shrine.

Don't miss the breathtaking sight of 3000 lanterns attached to the floats, burning against the night sky.

Venue Details

Venue Details
Websitehttps://www.city.nihonmatsu.lg.jp/page/page002784.html
Contact

Nihonmatsu Tourism Federation

(+81) 243-55-5122

Best Season
  • Autumn
Entrance FeeFree
Related info2023 Dates: October 7 (Saturday), 8 (Sunday), and 9 (Monday). Held every year on the first Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of October.
Access Details
Access1 Chome-61 Motomachi, Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Pref. 964-0917
View directions
Getting there

By Car Nihonmatsu Station is 2 km from the Nihonmatsu I.C. exit off the Tohoku Expressway. Some streets are barricaded off during festival time, and parking lots get full quickly, we recommend taking public transport to the festival.

By Train From Tokyo: Take the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Koriyama, then change to the Tohoku Main Line heading in the direction of Fukushima. Get off at Nihonmatsu Station. This journey takes around 90 minutes.

From Sendai: Take the Tohoku Shinkansen from Sendai to Fukushima. Change to the Tohoku Main Line, heading in the direction of Koriyama Station and get off at Nihonmatsu Station. This takes 50 minutes. There is also a highway bus from Sendai which takes around 70 minutes to reach Nihonmatsu Station.

Useful Links

Destination Spotlight: Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival

Day Trip in Nihonmatsu City

Enjoying Mt. Adatara in Autumn

Nearby

The World Glassware Hall
Cultural Experiences

Design Your Own Shirakawa Daruma

There are records of Shirakawa Daruma (Japanese traditional dolls) being sold as far back as the feudal reign of the Niwa Domain in 1627. Current Shirakawa Daruma are known as “Shirakawa Tsurugame Shochikubai Daruma.” The faces of these dolls are painted to incorporate various animals and plants, with the eyebrows representing cranes, the mustache representing a turtle, the ears representing pines and plum trees, and the beard representing bamboo or pine trees. All of these images are thought to bring good luck. The daruma is known to be a very classical, lucky talisman, started by Matsudaira Sadanobu, the lord of Shirakawa, when he hired the renowned painter Tani Buncho to paint the now famous face on the daruma doll. Once every year a large Shirakawa Daruma Market is held to celebrate and sell the beloved daruma dolls. You can paint your own daruma at the two daruma workshops in town!

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