Peace Memorial Ceremonies during the Summer

English list

During summer in Japan, many parts of the country commemorate some of the events during the Pacific War. For example, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the day the Pacific War ended.

These events marked Japan’s history, and many people passed away during the war. They are remembered and commemorated in Japan by holding ceremonies dedicated to peace or by having “Toro Nagashi” events.

“Toro Nagashi” means making small paper lanterns with peace messages written and then floating them in the river. These are beautiful and moving ceremonies worth visiting while traveling in Japan in the summer. Here is a compilation of some of these events held throughout the country.

繁體字（traditional chinese list)

毎年夏季，日本各地都會舉辨紀念太平洋戰爭的活動、例如廣島和長崎原子彈爆炸或是太平洋戰爭結束的那一天。這些事件標誌著日本的歷史，並且通過舉行和平儀式、「灯籠流し」等活動, 紀念於戰爭中逝去的人及祈求和平。「灯籠流し」在中國，台灣的文化中是指水燈祭、製作寫有和平信息的小紙燈籠，然後將它們漂浮在河中。這些美麗動人的儀式很推薦各位於夏天日本旅行時參觀。以下有一些全國各地舉行紀念活動的資訊。

Hokkaido & Tohoku (Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima)
Kanto (Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa)
Chubu (Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Yamanashi, Nagano, Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi)
Kansai (Mie, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama)
Chugoku (Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi)
Shikoku (Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kochi)
Kyushu & Okinawa (Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa)

Umi No Bon Festival

Lantern Floating and Fireworks Festival

Mitama Festival

Lantern Floating Festival at Chidori-ga-fuchi

Dove-Releasing Ceremony to Express Gratitude to the Enshrined Spirits

Sumidagawa River Toro Nagashi (Lantern-Floating Ceremony)

Mt. Fuji Lantern Floating at Lake Kawaguchiko

Arashiyama Lantern Festival

Higashi Otani Mantoe Festival

Hiroshima Peace Ceremony

Floating Lantern Festival

Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony

Nagasaki Floating Lanterns Festival

Yamaga Lantern Festival

Okinawa Memorial Service for All War Dead

Umi No Bon Festival

Region, Prefecture: Tohoku, Miyagi

Address : Miyagi, Miyagi District, Matsushima, Sanjugari 98−1

Dates : August 15-16, 2022

Notes : Matsushima Umi-no-Bon is a new summer festival in Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture. It is a festival that everyone enjoys and creates together. Enjoy the liveliness of the festival while cherishing the offerings as a sacred site. It is a new and nostalgic festival that naturally brings smiles to the faces of both adults and children.

WEB : http://uminobon.jp/english

Lantern Floating and Fireworks Festival

Region, Prefecture: Tohoku, Yamagata

Address : Yamagata, Oe Town, Nishimurayama District

Dates : August 15, 2022

Note : Lantern Floating and Fireworks Display
Fireworks sparkle in the summer night sky.
Countless lanterns fill the magnificent Mogami River.

WEB : http://oekanko.jp/en/

Mitama Festival

Region, Prefecture : Kanto, Tokyo

Address : 3 Chome-1-1 Kudankita, Chiyoda City, Tokyo

Dates : July 13-16, 2022

Notes : The Mitama Festival, which began in 1947, is a summer festival to comfort the souls of the war dead by displaying over 30.000 votive lanterns on the shrine grounds.

WEB : https://www.yasukuni.or.jp/english/festivals.html

Lantern Floating Festival at Chidori-ga-fuchi

Region, Prefecture : Kanto, Tokyo

Address : Tokyo, Chiyoda City, Sanbancho, ２

Dates : July 29-30, 2022

Notes : Chidorigafuchi is a popular cherry blossom viewing spot and a place of remembrance for many people. Also, here takes place the beautiful festival of floating lanterns. On a summer night in the heart of Tokyo, the light of 2,000 lanterns, filled with the wishes and hopes of the people, create a fantastic scene shimmering on the surface of the moat’s water.

WEB : https://visit-chiyoda.tokyo/floating.lantern/

Dove-Releasing Ceremony to Express Gratitude to the Enshrined Spirits

Region, Prefecture : Kanto, Tokyo

Address : 3 Chome-1-1 Kudankita, Chiyoda City, Tokyo

Dates : August 15, 2022

Notes : This is an event where words of thanks are chanted to the spirits of the dead, and pure white doves are released into the sky.

WEB : https://www.yasukuni.or.jp/english/festivals.html

Sumidagawa River Toro Nagashi (Lantern-Floating Ceremony)

Region, Prefecture : Kanto, Tokyo

Address : 1 Chome Hanakawado, Taito City, Tokyo

Dates : August 15, 2022

Notes : The Lantern Festival is held to mourn the deceased.
It is held around sunset during the summer Obon season.
Participants made Lanterns for a fee and floated down the river from the Shinsui Terrace near both banks of Azuma Bridge.
The Sumida River reflects the night scenery, and with the fantastic lights of the lantern floating ceremony, it is a relaxing experience.

WEB : https://www.gotokyo.org/en/spot/ev099/index.html

Mt. Fuji Lantern Floating at Lake Kawaguchiko

Region, Prefecture : Chubu, Yamanashi

Address : 2525-11 Oishi, Fujikawaguchiko, Minamitsuru District, Yamanashi

Dates : August 16, 2022

Notes : The “Fuji Kawaguchiko Lantern Floating Festival” began in 2007. More than 1,200 lanterns are floated on the lake during the Bon Festival in August every year, and it is known locally as an annual event that adds color to summer at Lake Kawaguchi.

WEB : https://toronagashi.jp/english.html

Arashiyama Lantern Festival

Region, Prefecture : Kansai, Kyoto

Address : Saganakanoshimacho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto

Dates : August 16, 2022

Notes : The Lantern Festival on 16 August is a spiritual event held in Arashiyama Park, south of Watarigetsukyo Bridge. The lanterns are sent off in the afternoon after a Buddhist memorial service is held in Arashiyama Park. As this is the night of the Daimonji Gozan Okuribi, you can also view the torii-shaped bonfire.

WEB : https://buttorenmei.sakura.ne.jp/

Higashi Otani Mantoe Festival

Region, Prefecture : Kansai, Kyoto

Address : 754 Tokiwacho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto

Dates : August 14-16, 2022

Notes : The Higashi-Otani Manto-e is held at Higashi Honganji Temple in Kyoto Prefecture, known as the head temple of the Shinshu Otani sect of the Jodo Shinshu religion. It is said that this event began when lanterns were lit on the temple grounds to illuminate worshippers’ feet so they could enjoy a cooler night during their midsummer Obon visit.

WEB : https://www.higashihonganji.or.jp/news/otani/25102227/

Hiroshima Peace Ceremony

Region, Prefecture : Chugoku, Hiroshima

Address : １chome1-10 Nakajimacho, Naka Ward, Hiroshima

Dates : August 6, 2022

Notes : The ceremony is held every year in Peace Memorial Park on August 6, the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, to comfort the spirits of the atomic bomb victims and to pray for lasting world peace.

WEB : https://www.city.hiroshima.lg.jp/site/atomicbomb-peace/list844-1663.html

Floating Lantern Festival

Region, Prefecture : Chugoku, Hiroshima

Address : 1-chōme-10-10 Ōtemachi, Naka Ward, Hiroshima

Dates : August 6, 2022

Notes : It is said to have started as a voluntary event held by shopkeepers in the local shopping district soon after the war and has now become a summer tradition in Hiroshima to pray for lasting peace in the world.

WEB : https://www.chushinren.jp/tourou/index_e.html

Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony

Region, Prefecture : Kyushu, Nagasaki

Address : 9 Matsuyamamachi, Nagasaki

Dates : August 9, 2022

Notes : The ceremony is held annually in Peace Park (or Nagasaki Brick Hall in case of stormy weather) on 9 August, the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, to console the spirits of the dead and pray for lasting world peace.

WEB : https://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/heiwa/3020000/3020300/p038630.html

Nagasaki Floating Lanterns Festival

Region, Prefecture : Kyushu, Nagasaki

Address : 6 Motoshikkuimachi, Nagasaki

Dates : August 15, 2022

Notes : The Lantern Festival is a summer tradition in Nagasaki, held annually on August 15. It is a traditional Nagasaki event in which handmade boats are built to mourn the souls of the deceased and paraded through the town while pulling the boats.

WEB : https://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/shimin/140000/149005/p038663.html

Yamaga Lantern Festival

Region, Prefecture : Kyushu, Kumamoto

Address : 1499 Yamaga, Kumamoto

Dates : August 16, 2022

Notes : The Yamaga Lantern Festival, one of the most popular summer festivals in Kyushu, decorates the entire town of Yamaga City, Kumamoto Prefecture, with fantastic lights. With gold lanterns on their heads, women in yukata (light cotton kimono) dance gracefully to the slow, emotional music of “Yohehobushi.

WEB : https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/458/

Okinawa Memorial Service for All War Dead

Region, Prefecture : Kyushu, Okinawa

Address : 444 Mabuni, Itoman, Okinawa

Dates : June 23, 2022

Notes : As the Okinawa War Memorial Ceremony was held, the people offered the most profound condolences to the souls of those who perished on the battlefield and those who died in the ravages of war during the Battle of Okinawa.

WEB : https://www.pref.okinawa.jp/site/kodomo/hogoengo/engo/documents/r4_pamphlet_english.pdf

北海道 / 東北（北海道、青森縣、岩手縣、宮城縣、秋田縣、山形縣、福島縣）

關東（茨城縣、栃木縣、群馬縣、埼玉縣、千葉縣、東京都、神奈川縣）

中部（新潟縣、富山縣、石川縣、福井縣、山梨縣、長野縣、岐阜縣、靜岡縣、愛知縣）

關西（三重縣、滋賀縣、京都府、大阪府、兵庫縣、奈良縣、和歌山縣）

中國（鳥取縣、島根縣、岡山縣、廣島縣、山口縣）

四國（德島縣、香川縣、愛媛縣、高知縣）

九州/沖繩（福岡縣、佐賀縣、長崎縣、熊本縣、大分縣、宮崎縣、鹿兒島縣、沖繩縣）