2025 Aoyama Star Lantern Revival Program
Business Overview
The 'Hoshitoro' festival, which was held around Aoyama and Hyakunin-cho from the Edo period to the early Meiji period, was a Bon festival event in which a chochin (paper lantern) was put on the tip of a bamboo pole and held high for one month in July of the old calendar. Since it looked as if many stars were coming out at night, it was called 'Hoshitoro' (star lantern) and was depicted in Ukiyoe (Japanese woodblock prints) by Hiroshige UTAGAWA the second. By reviving this event, we are working to retrace the history of Aoyama, rediscover the environment and life that once existed here, and think about the future of the city and people's lives.
This year, in addition to the reproduction of the lanterns, there will be shadow pictures (Shadow painter: Koheisai KAWAMURA, percussion instrument: Takefumi KOBAYASHI), a tea party (host: Wata Toshiari), and Shibu Noh (Cast: Masamoto Umano, Kyohei Aoki, etc.).
- Period of Activity / Project
- Saturday, September 13, 2025 to September 15 (Sun/Holiday) Lighting: 18:00-20:00
- Venues
- NONOAOYAMA,Minato City,Tokyo
Profile
[Aoyama Lanterns Executive Committee]
The Aoyama Lanterns Executive Committee was established in 2017 by a group of local volunteers in order to rediscover Aoyama's unique lifestyle by creating a new historical Aoyama tradition. After encountering an ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock print) called“One Hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces: Star Lanterns at Hyakunincho, Aoyama, Eastern Capital (Edo)” painted by Hiroshige II, he has been working to revive and hand down the scenery and culture that the people of Aoyama should pass on to future generations.