Shōrō Nagashi (Spirit Boat Procession)

精霊流し

Families who have lost someone since the last Bon season pull hand-built spirit boats, carrying the souls of the dead, through the centre of Nagasaki to the places where the boats are given up, amid clanging bells, chants of “dōi, dōi” and deafening firecrackers. There is no organiser: each family sends off its own boat. Held every year on the night of 15 August.

15 August 2027

289 days away

Every year, 15 August

Future dates: 15 August 2027 · 15 August 2028 · 15 August 2029

Origin

According to Nagasaki City, the custom may go back to a rite held in the Edo period by the Chinese living in the city’s Chinese quarter, who set small boats loaded with food and everyday goods afloat in the harbour and later burned them, to console the spirits of countrymen who had died at sea or in Nagasaki. The first spirit boats were small, about one to one and a half metres long, made of straw and bamboo, and carried by one person down to the shore. Over time they grew larger and were floated out to sea lit with candles and lanterns, until floating them out was banned in the Meiji era. In Nomo, at the tip of the Nagasaki Peninsula, boats were still put into the sea until recent times, but today, out of care for the environment, they are no longer set afloat: they are carried to set places near the harbour, where the families say their last farewell.

What to look for

The draw is the stream of spirit boats, large and small and hung with lanterns, moving one after another through the smoke and roar of firecrackers from dusk until late at night. The boats are made of bamboo, boards and straw; the long, jutting prow bears the family crest, the family name or the name of the neighbourhood in large letters, and each boat is decorated to reflect the tastes of the person it carries. They range from little boats a child can hold to large ones on wheels, moyai-bune boats shared by a whole neighbourhood, and several boats joined end to end; the prefectural police limit them to 10 metres, or 21 metres when joined (2026). The boats are pulled along to the clang of bells and the chant of “dōi, dōi”, said to be a shortened form of the Buddhist invocation namu amida butsu, while the endless firecrackers are said to ward off evil and purify the road the boat travels. The main route runs from Shianbashi up Kenchō-zaka, the slope by the old prefectural office, down to Ōhato, and the Kenchō-zaka stretch is regarded as the high point.

How to watch

There is no organiser: each family, as it chooses and in its own way, sends off its dead (Nagasaki City). However loud it looks, the city writes, what lies beneath it is the family’s love for the person they have lost. The prefectural tourism federation advises bringing earplugs, since firecrackers are set off in huge numbers, and avoiding sandals, skirts, shorts and anything else that leaves bare skin exposed. If you plan to sit in the front row along the road, a mat or a folding chair helps, and a hat and plenty to drink are essential in the heat. The crowds are thickest from Shianbashi through Kenchō-zaka to Ōhato.

If you go

The procession fills central Nagasaki, with the main route running from Shianbashi through Kenchō-zaka to Ōhato. The boats start moving in the late afternoon, the drop-off points take boats from 5 to 9 p.m. (2026), and the procession goes on late into the night. From 5 p.m. until the procession ends, cars are banned from many streets in central Nagasaki. In 2026, Line 1 of the Nagasaki tram stopped running between Shinchi Chinatown and Sōfukuji from 4 p.m. until the last service, and some bus routes were diverted. The prefectural police ask people not to come by car (2019).

Where

Central Nagasaki (Shianbashi to Ōhato)

Nagasaki

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Sources

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