The Hirosaki Neputa Matsuri (弘前ねぷた祭り) takes place in the city of Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture (青森県). The Hirosaki Neputa Festival is a brightly colored festival where giant paper lanterns are paraded through the streets. These paper lanterns are decorated with images of samurai, mythological gods and goddesses, etc. After the festival has finished, the lanterns are cast into the sea. It’s believed that getting rid of the lanterns will prevent the town from being infected with illnesses.

The Kanto Matsuri (竿燈祭り) in Akita Prefecture (秋田県) is a festival that occurs from August 4^th to the 7^th, and where ten meter bamboo poles are balanced on the hands, shoulders, hips or face. The bamboo poles contain at least forty-six lighted lanterns that light up the pole and make the pole heavy to hold. The Kanto Festival began from a belief that lighting many lanterns will drive away sleepiness, and ensure that people will stay awake to do work.

The Daimonji Bonfire (大文字送り火) is a festival in Kyoto where many torches are used to light up a kanji character that has been carved upon a mountain or high hill. This practice began to help the lost spirits of dead ancestors reach their way back to the spirit world by illuminating the path. The most popular character that is illuminated is 大 (だい／おお), which means ‘great’ or ‘big’. Other characters include 法 (ほう), which means ‘law’, and 妙 (みょう), which means ‘excellence’.