Shimabara Shoryo Nagashi
Event
A traditional Bon ceremony conducted in the Shimabara area for over 300 years in which bamboo and straw boats for the dead decorated with faceted lanterns are set afloat on the Ariake Sea. As night falls, young men pick up the boats and carry them around town to cries of Namaido! Namaido! before finally launching them on the ocean. The sight of the boats drifting on the sea and the gentle light of their lanterns in the darkness is both beautiful and haunting.
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