The fire sends the new year’s gods home; the people walking towards it through a Sendai January are wearing almost nothing.
Overview
Osaki Hachimangu is the guardian shrine of Sendai and the oldest surviving Momoyama-period building in Japan, its Gongen-style hall designated a National Treasure. Its Matsutaki Matsuri, known generally as Dontosai, is among the largest new-year send-off rites in the country, with around 300 years of history.
Pine decorations, sacred ropes and old amulets brought in from across the region are burned at dusk. The fire is treated as a goshinka, a sacred flame: standing in it is said to purify body and mind for the year. The hadaka-mairi, a pilgrimage in loincloths, began with sake brewers praying for a good brewing season and was already established by the mid-Edo period.
When and where
Dontosai is held on 14 January every year, so in 2027 that is Thursday 14 January. Prayers are received from about 09:00, the fire is lit around sunset – 16:00 in the previous edition – and the grounds stay busy until about 21:00.
Traffic control operated from 16:00 to 21:00 on the day in the last edition.
Getting there
Sendai city buses stop at Osaki Hachimangu-mae, right at the shrine. From JR Tohoku Fukushi Daimae on the Senzan line it is a 15-minute walk. Extra buses run on festival evening, and the shrine asks visitors not to drive because of congestion.
What to expect
A fire, a procession and about a hundred thousand people.
- A sacred bonfire of new year decorations, lit at dusk
- Around 3,000 hadaka-mairi participants from roughly 100 groups, carrying lanterns and bells
- Roughly 100,000 visitors over the evening
- Night stalls filling the grounds and the approach
- The National Treasure main hall, built in 1607, floodlit behind the fire
Tickets and admission
Free. If you bring decorations to burn, remove plastic and anything not related to the rite – the shrine is strict about this. Personal documents and photographs are not accepted.
Tips for visitors
Arrive before 16:00 to see the lighting, then move to the approach road to watch the loincloth groups come in. It is well below freezing after dark, and you will be standing on gravel; boots and gloves matter. If the crowd at the main hall is impassable, the outer approach still gives you the procession, which is the most memorable part.
Access and map
| Dates | 14 January 2027 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Osaki Hachimangu, Sendai, Miyagi |
| Access | City bus to Osaki Hachimangu-mae, or 15 minutes on foot from Tohoku Fukushi Daimae |
| Admission | Free |
| Official site | Osaki Hachimangu |
Source: Osaki Hachimangu official site
Image: Photo: Caveman2 / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
