~ The origin tracing back to the Edo period~

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During the Horeki, Tenmei, and Tenpo eras in the Edo period, numerous cold-weather periods and catastrophic crop failures caused hundreds of thousands of people in Tohoku, including the Sendai and Date domains, to die of starvation. Many people (including those from outside the Date domain) sought food and gathered near the Hirose River. In response, the Date domain set up shelters near Hirose Bridge, providing porridge and implementing every measure possible. However, a large number of people—some accounts say hundreds of thousands—weakened and met their end there.

To memorialize these people who met such tragic deaths, it is said that Kanshinin, the wife of the 7th lord of the Date family, Shigemura, founded the Togenin Temple near the Hirose Bridge and began the lantern floating ceremony. Ever since, following the tradition of the “Kawasegaki” memorial service for the spirits who perished in water accidents on July 16 of the Buddhist Obon, the lantern floating has continued every year.

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〜Lantern floating today and in the future〜

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The lantern floating event has been held since the Edo period, and starting in the Showa era, firework displays were held concurrently, becoming a symbol that heralds the end of summer and one of the largest summer festivals in Sendai. 

Although it was forced to temporarily halt in Showa 53 (1978), the citizens rose up to “bring back the liveliness of summer!” The event was revived in Heisei 2 (1990). Driven by a desire to turn this historical, prestigious event into a regional tradition, the Nagamachi and Kawaramachi shopping streets and the neighborhood associations located around the Hirose River are central to the operation, holding it annually on August 20, in accordance with Sendai’s traditional Obon on the lunar calendar.

As a seasonal tradition moving toward autumn, we, the executive committee, will continue to strive to make it an event that resonates in everyone’s heart.

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