Category:

Municipally Designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property

Title:

Suna no manto

The Suna Lantern Festival

砂の万灯

Designated:

September 14, 1963

Conservation Groups:

• The “Suna no Manto/Hommura Group” Lantern Festival Preservation Society
• The “Suna no Manto/Nishihon Group” Preservation Society
• The Higashihon Group
• The “Suna no Manto/Nakahon Group” Preservation Society
• The “Suna no Manto/Naka Group” Preservation Society
• The “Suna no Manto/Kaminaka Group” Preservation Society
• The “Suna no Manto/Okami Group” Preservation Society

Location:

Yakumo-jinja Shrine

1-13-9 Higashi-Omiya, Minuma Ward

Event Date:

Mid-July

Description:

   While the origins of the Manto Lantern Festival are uncertain, it is believed that people in the mid-Edo period paraded lanterns alongside performers dressed as lions, portable mikoshi shrines, and hokodashi floats as a means of praying for relief from disease.  

Modern-day “ichimanto” lanterns consist of a lantern contained in a frame, decorated with a skirt-like curtain, hung with flower ornaments called “hanazashi”,  and topped with a doll. Each of the seven lanterns is 6 meters tall. They are displayed in a line on the shrine grounds.

Associated Texts:

(1965). “Cultural Properties in Omiya”. Omiya Municipal Board of Education.

(1981). “The Suna Lantern Festival”. Omiya Municipal Board of Education.

(1986). “Cultural Properties in Omiya” (vol. 2). Omiya Board of Education.

Please be courteous towards other visitors, worshippers, locals, and the preservation group when enjoying this cultural property. Please see the city’s webpage on cultural events for details on dates and times :

https://www-city-saitama-jp.translate.goog/004/005/006/012/index.html?_x_tr_sl=ja&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Inquiries (Japanese only)

Cultural Heritage Preservation Division, Department of Lifelong Learning, Board of Education Secretariat　

TEL：048-829-1723 FAX：048-829-1989

https://www.city.saitama.jp/004/005/006/001/019/012/003/p000483.html