Northern Japan · Miyagi · Sendai
Matsutaki Matsuri at Ōsaki Hachimangū
大崎八幡宮松焚祭
A procession that cannot speak — paper held in the mouth — walks to the fire by the sound of bells alone.
Next
14 January 2027
79 days away
Every year, 14 January
Future dates: 14 January 2027 · 14 January 2028 · 14 January 2029
Origin
The rite burns the New Year decorations and sends the year’s deities on their way; in Sendai it is called *Donto-sai*. The shrine describes its own as three centuries old and among the largest New Year send-offs in the country. The pine and straw brought in from the surrounding district are lit at dusk with a fire kindled by a prescribed sacred method, and the resulting blaze is treated as divine: it carries away the gods who had been visiting each household over the New Year, and standing in it is held to cleanse body and mind and to secure a year free of illness. It was designated an intangible folk cultural property of Sendai in 2005.
What to look for
The fire, and the *hadaka-mairi* that walks toward it. It is said to have begun with sake brewers, who came to pray for a safe and fine winter’s brewing, and to have been established by the mid-Edo period. **Participants wear a white headband and white cloth wound about the body, hold a bell in the right hand and a lantern in the left, and keep a sheet of paper in the mouth so that they will not speak.** Several thousand come in from across the city.
How to watch
**The procession does not speak — the paper in the mouth is there to prevent it — so what you hear is the bells and nothing else.** Do not call out to them, and do not cut across the line. Heat and smoke around the fire are strong and shift with the wind. There are rules about what may be burned, so check before bringing anything.
If you go
**The fire is lit at dusk on 14 January.** The date is fixed, so the weekday shifts each year and some years fall mid-week. The processions arrive one after another through the evening, so leaving once the fire is lit means missing them. **The hadaka-mairi is not something you can join on the day: it requires an application to the shrine office in advance.** It is close to central Sendai, but roads around the shrine are closed on the day. You will be standing outdoors on a midwinter night.
Where
Ōsaki Hachimangū
Sendai, Miyagi
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