Kasuga Taisha: The Lantern Sea
Kasuga Taisha in Nara is the largest concentration of stone lanterns in Japan, with approximately 2,000 stone lanterns lining the approach and filling the precincts, and over 1,000 hanging bronze lanterns (tsuri-doro) inside the covered corridors — approximately 3,000 in total. Twice a year, at the Mantoro (ten-thousand lanterns) ceremony held at Setsubun (February) and Obon (August), every lantern is lit simultaneously, creating a scene of extraordinary ethereal beauty.
Itsukushima Jinja: Floating Light
The covered corridors of Itsukushima Jinja are hung with bronze lanterns whose reflections shimmer in the tidal sea below. At night, when the lanterns are lit and the complex is reflected in the water, the experience is unlike anything else in Japanese religious architecture. The combination of vermilion corridors, bronze lanterns, and the sea creates the quintessential image of Itsukushima.
Nikko Toshogu: Shogunal Power in Bronze
The bronze lanterns at Nikko Toshogu were donated by the Tokugawa shogunate’s vassal lords (daimyo) and even foreign trading partners — the Dutch East India Company (VOC) contributed one of the most famous examples. The scale and quality of these lanterns served a political purpose: demonstrating the power, reach, and legitimacy of Tokugawa rule. Standing before them, the weight of Edo-period governance is palpable.
Heian Jingu and Mishima Taisha: Festival Lanterns
At Heian Jingu during the Jidai Matsuri and at Mishima Taisha during the annual grand festival, lanterns are lit throughout the precinct, wrapping the shrine in warm light. These festival evenings represent lanterns functioning as they were always intended: as offerings of light that transform sacred space into something otherworldly.