Every summer, the Sumida River fills with light for toro nagashi [lantern floating], a ritual that predates the fireworks festivals that usually get the attention. On August 15, paper lanterns carrying handwritten messages drift from the Azumabashi Waterside Terrace toward Kototoi Bridge. The custom traces back to Obon, the tradition of guiding ancestral spirits home and then sending them off again, and it now also honors those lost in the Great Kanto Earthquake and the wartime bombings.

A short ceremony opens the evening at 6:30 pm, and the first lanterns go into the water by 6:45 pm. Viewing from the riverbank costs nothing. Releasing one of your own runs 2,000 yen on the day, with up to two people sharing a lantern and its message.

Skip the crowds angling for a fireworks view and find a quieter stretch of the Sumida instead. Lanterns keep drifting until 8:15 pm, rain or shine, unless the weather turns severe enough to postpone. Asakusa Station is a three-minute walk away.

Information

Start: Aug 15th 2026 at 6:30pm

End: Aug 15th 2026 at 8:15pm

Azumabashi Waterside Terrace, Sumida Park
7-1 Asakusa, Taito-ku 111-0032 Tokyo

¥2,000

https://e-asakusa.jp/en/culture-experience/11502