【Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival①】Decision of Cancellation for FY2021 Festival

On 7 September 2021, It has been decided by the General Council of Nihonmatsu Shrine that the FY2021 Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival will be cancelled. Last year the FY2020 festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this year it seems that the FY2021 festival will also have only a ritual at Nihonmatsu Shrine. It must have been a difficult decision for the General Council to make, as they had announced on 9 July that the FY2021 festival would be held on a limited scale this year. The Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival is regarded as one of the three biggest lantern festivals in Japan and is an important annual event for the citizens of Nihonmatsu in Fukushima Prefecture. The cancellation of the festival for two consecutive years is very painful for the citizens of Nihonmatsu as well as for the shrine parishioners called 'Wakaren' and 'Kowaka'. I hope that next year the infection will be ended, and the traditional festival will be held.

4 October 2015, in front of Nihonmatsu Shrine.

-------Looking forward to next year-------

Looking back, the Nihonmatsu lantern festival has changed over the years. There are several differences from the festival when I was little, such as the change of the programme progression location from on the former ‘Kamegai footbridge’ to a special stage at the former ‘Kamegai rotary’, and the change of the date of the festival from the 4th, 5th and 6th of October to the first week of October, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. However, I feel that the pride and passion of Wakaren, Kowaka and Nihonmatsu citizens for the festival and the tradition of the festival has been inherited. I am looking forward to seeing the festival change with the times while maintaining its tradition.

Zaku-Zaku-Gohan, Kenta Kevee Kisaï, #16