#SummerInJapan: Lantern Floating Festival at Chidorigafuchi

Summer in Japan will never be complete without fireworks (花火, hanabi), festivals, Bon Odori dances, yukata and the ✅beach.

Last week I've shared about my beach day in Onjuku, and so, for today I will be sharing about one of the solemn festivals in Tokyo. This is just one of the festivals in Tokyo, as there are many others which I hope I can attend so I can share it to all of you.

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The name of this summer event is 納涼の夕べ (Noryo no Yube) in Chidorigafuchi Moat, just near Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

「千代田区納涼の夕べ」は、戦後の荒廃した人々の心を癒やそうと、昭和33年に始まりました。
Translated via DeepL: The "Chiyoda-ku Noryo Evening" began in 1958 in an attempt to heal the hearts of those devastated by the postwar period.

^{source: Event website}

There are so many attendees but what surprised me the most is that there are many foreigners than Japanese in this event. 😅
I suspected these foreigners lived in Chiyoda-ku, the city where this is held, so it's just easy for them to attend.

I thought I was going alone to this festival (my partner's busy with work and this is not his kind of thing) but luckily, my friend went with me. We met in a cafe near the Hanzomon Station and while I was waiting for her, I was enjoying the pancakes of this cafe. They were so good!

The area around Hanzomon Station was so quiet. I was actually not expecting it to be like this. It's the center of Tokyo but only few people are out and about, and what's more, there's an event nearby. It's really a residential area, although peaceful I am not sure I would want to live here. I want to live in places where there are restaurants and lots of grocery stores. 😅

As I was saying, the pancakes in this cafe shop were so good! Too bad they close at 6PM on weekends, or else we would have stayed longer. Oh wait, we need to attend an event. 😂 Scratch staying longer.

Hanzomon Station and Kudanshita Station are two of the closest train stations to Chidorigafuchi boat parking. You can also reach this by walking for 30 mins from Tokyo Station. That walk is not a big deal but because it's summer in Japan, that's a big deal for me. It's scorching hot right now with temperatures ranging from 30 degrees Celsius to 38.

While walking to the festival site, we kinda got lost. 😅 This is big knowing I am so good at directions but maybe because my friend and I kept talking, I was not paying attention if we're on the right path.

And because we went to the wrong way, we found some gems! The trees were so green, and only a few people can be seen, mostly jogging. I think this place is a great spot during Autumn. Maybe I'll come back to check it out.

From the walking trail view, we realized we were on the wrong way because we saw the boats were far from where we were. Few minutes walking and we have arrived at our destination.

Looks like there were no people but then.. there were a lot actually.

The lanterns were sold for 1,000 yen (around 7.5 USD) and you can write your wishes on all 4 sides. The line was too long, and when we realized we could share one lantern so we wouldn't have to pay 1k yen each, it was too late already, all lanterns were sold out. So no lanterns for us.

To ride the boat, there was a registration opened a month before the festival and it will be chosen by lottery. It would have been great if we rode the boat but well, better luck next time.

It was so hard to find a good spot to take photos, just like this. A tree was blocking the view.

Releasing the lanterns was from 7PM so prior to that, the people were already in the boats. I really would want to join their fun of rowing the boat.

How romantic will it be if I'm in the boat.. I was actually imagining couples in the boat were confessing their love or something. 😂

Finally, it's 7PM - time to release those lanterns!

From there forward, pardon my phone's capabilities. 🙏

It was starting to get dark and the lanterns were so beautiful. My phone shots couldn't do justice to how beautiful it was.

The walkway near the river was full of speakers so you can definitely hear the complementing music. I am not sure for people in the boat, but it seems loud enough so maybe they could hear it.

The floating lanterns were so amazing to look at. I really hope the wishes of the people will come true. It is said that there would be 2,000 lanterns floating. I didn't count it though. LOL

Originally, “Tourou Nagashi” (lantern floating) is a Japanese tradition for mourning the souls of the deceased. People let lanterns float on the surface of the ocean or rivers. It’s a summer tradition.

^{source: Chiyoda City's Tourism Website in English}

I hope people will find the healing that they need, as it's the goal of this festival. Even when we did not write our wishes and feelings in the lantern, I hope the One above will hear and grant the desires of our heart.

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Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！

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^{All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.}