The Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival is held yearly on the first Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of October. The 2025 festival was held on Saturday 4th, Sunday 5th and Monday 6th.
Check the Nihonmatsu Tourism Association website for route maps of the lantern floats.
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.
The festival traces its roots back to 1643, when Niwa Mitsushige became the lord of the Nihonmatsu clan. Believing that fostering religious piety was a core tenet of strong government, Lord Niwa had Nihonmatsu Shrine built the following year, and opened its gates for anyone in the domain to visit. It’s said that in the first festival, the young people of the town carried a portable shrine (mikoshi) through the streets - in an era where there was a strict class system in place, encouraging widespread religious fervour in this sense was a progressive approach.
As a result, historians say the local people came to greatly love and respect their lord, and before long the festival grew into a magnificent spectacle including dancing, huge drumming floats and hanging lanterns. The tradition has continued to this day, where the beautiful illuminated floats rolling through the streets is the backbone of an important yearly event for local people.
| Website | https://www.city.nihonmatsu.lg.jp/page/page002784.html |
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| Contact | Nihonmatsu Tourism Federation (+81) 243-55-5122 |
| Best Season |
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| Entrance Fee | Free |
| Related info | 2025 Dates: October 4 (Saturday), 5 (Sunday), and 6 (Monday). Held every year on the first Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of October. Day 1: The day when you can see all seven lantern floats lined up together. Day 2: The day when the lantern floats are scattered throughout the town. Day 3: The day when the lantern floats are divided into groups of three and four around the town. *Please be aware that you cannot see all seven together on Day 2 & Day 3. |
| Access | 1 Chome-61 Motomachi, Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Pref. 964-0917 View directions |
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| Getting there | By Car Nihonmatsu Station is 2 km from the Nihonmatsu I.C. exit off the Tohoku Expressway. Since 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 |
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