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Nara Lantern Festival
Every summer, Nara uses candlelight as its central theme to highlight its tranquil and understated character. The dim glow gathered under the night sky creates an even more mysterious atmosphere, evoking a sense of returning to ancient times. The Nara Lantern Festival began in 1999 and, though relatively young, has developed its own independent organizing body. The lighting design, which treats lanterns as flowers, emphasizes expressing avant-garde Zen-style arrangements through retro candles—a concept that has been very successful. The annual event draws large crowds and many tourists. The soft glow of the lights gradually brightens from dusk, and the arrangement and placement of over 12,000 lanterns are all completed by volunteers. Even during the festival, when general visitors are invited to participate in the candle-lighting ceremony “one guest, one lantern,” at least 200 volunteers are still needed each day. Therefore, the romantic scenes seen during the Lantern Festival are entirely born from the love of the people of Nara for their ancient capital and culture.
Nara Lantern Festival (Image source: Moleskine Editorial Department)
Kagawa Seaside Carnival
The “Kagawa Seaside Carnival” is a festival held in the bay area of downtown Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, blending elements of water, light, and music. Stunning visuals are projected onto a huge water curtain created by seawater jets. The event showcases never-before-experienced art and dynamic historical stories, allows audiences to play smartphone-based games together, and features spectacular audiovisual shows projected over the Seto Inland Sea on summer nights.
Akita Kanto Festival
With a history of 360 years, the origins of the Akita Kanto Festival are shrouded in various legends. Since summers in Akita are extremely hot and the strenuous agricultural work can be exhausting to the point of drowsiness, one theory suggests the festival was created to ward off impurities, evil spirits, and sleepiness. Among these, the most credible explanation is that it is a prayer for a bountiful harvest, good health, and longevity.
The Kanto Festival evolved into its current form after the 18th century during the Hōreki and Bunka eras, when the use of candles became widespread. The name “Kanto” (literally “pole lanterns”) was coined by the fifth mayor of Akita, Okubo Tessaku, in honor of Emperor Meiji’s visit to the Tohoku region, during which he stopped by Akita. He drew inspiration from the phrase “One must make progress even from the top of a hundred-foot pole” in the Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, showing some connections to Chinese heritage as well.
Akita Kanto Festival (Image source: Moleskine Editorial Department)
Every July, parks, open spaces, and school playgrounds in Akita City transform into training grounds for kanto (pole lantern) practice. Every year, kanto handlers from all walks of life—carrying the expectations of many—manage to secure paid leave from their workplaces just to make the most of this final window of time. They push themselves hard to perfect their kanto skills, all in preparation to shine during the main event in early August.
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