Yuwaku Bonbori Matsuri

Overview

The Yuwaku Bonbori Matsuri has been held at Yuwaku Onsen in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, since 2011. It recreates in reality the fictional rite "Bonbori Festival" depicted in the 2011 television anime "Hanasaku Iroha," and is known as a modern festival linking anime and the local community.

History and Origins

Yuwaku Onsen served as the model for "Yunosagi Onsen," the main setting of the anime "Hanasaku Iroha," and after the broadcast began it became a popular pilgrimage site visited by many anime fans. In response, the Yuwaku Onsen Tourism Association, calling the fictional rite "Bonbori Festival" depicted in the anime "a beautiful festival," decided to hold it in reality in autumn 2011 with the cooperation of the anime studio P.A.Works. The festival also had the character of an event commemorating the third anniversary of recovery from the 2008 Asano River flood.

The inaugural 2011 event gathered about 5,000 people, and its live broadcast drew over 14,000 cumulative viewers. In 2015, after the Hokuriku Shinkansen opened to Kanazawa, about 14,000 people attended—roughly 2.8 times the first year. From the outset the tourism association insisted on "making it a festival rooted in the community" and deliberately avoided tying lodging services too closely to the anime. That stance won fans' approval, and today it has become established as an event drawing not only fans but also couples, families, and many who do not even know the festival originated from anime.

Highlights

The festival's worldview is based on the story of a small girl deity attended by a fox. On the day in the godless month when the gods of all Japan return to Izumo, people raise bonbori lanterns to make a path so that this easily-lost goddess does not go astray; in thanks, the goddess delivers everyone's wishes written on "Nozomi-fuda" slips to the myriad gods of Izumo. Each July about 300 bonbori are lit in the hot-spring town, illuminating the precincts of Yuwaku Inari Shrine and the fan-shaped stairway from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. during the lighting period. At the main festival in October, a god-welcoming ceremony, a god-sending procession, and a god-sending ceremony are held from evening at Yuwaku Inari Shrine, after which the "Nozomi-fuda" slips offered in the precincts are burned in an Otakiage at Lake Gyokusen. The fantastical sight of the procession advancing about 500 meters from the entrance of the hot-spring town past Yuwaku Inari Shrine to Lake Gyokusen is a highlight.

Event Information & Access

A "bonbori lighting ceremony" and "Nozomi-fuda offering" are held in July, and the main festival takes place during the October holiday weekend. The venue is the Yuwaku Onsen area of Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture. It is a hot-spring resort in the mountains accessed by bus from central Kanazawa, and in recent years it has become so popular that the inns of the hot-spring town fill up as soon as the festival dates are announced in spring.

Around the Venue

Yuwaku Onsen is a mountain hot-spring resort called the "inner parlor" of Kanazawa, also known for its association with Yumeji Takehisa and home to the Kanazawa Yuwaku Yumeji Museum. Central Kanazawa gathers some of Japan's foremost attractions, including Kenrokuen Garden, Kanazawa Castle, the Higashi Chaya District, and the 21st Century Museum, making it easy to plan a trip combining a stay at Yuwaku Onsen with Kanazawa sightseeing.

Related Information

• Month: July (lighting ceremony), October (main festival) (autumn)
• Prefecture: Ishikawa (Chubu)
• Venue: Yuwaku Onsen (Kanazawa City)
• First held: 2011 (originating from the anime "Hanasaku Iroha"; commemorating the 3rd anniversary of recovery from the Asano River flood)
• Feature: A modern pilgrimage-type festival linking anime and the local community

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