Matsumoto-Bonbon Festival

Overview

Matsumoto-Bonbon (formally the "Summer Festival Matsumoto-Bonbon") is the largest summer festival in Nagano Prefecture, held on the first Saturday of August each year in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture. The venue is the central market district spreading from the east side of Matsumoto Station to the National Treasure Matsumoto Castle, and the city's main streets are filled with dancers and spectators. The spectacle of large numbers of dancers clad in matching yukata and happi coats, forming numerous groups (ren) and dancing through the streets in time to the lively "Matsumoto-Bonbon" song, is magnificent, making it a major event symbolizing the summer of the castle town of Matsumoto.

The scale of participation is extremely large, with more than 140 organizations in recent years, and in some years the number of dancers exceeds 7,000, so that the whole town is wrapped in the heat of dancing. The sight of local people, from children to adults, enjoying the same song and dance across generations brims with the sense of unity and warmth unique to a castle town. It is a citizen-participation festival that enlivens, as a whole town, the short summer of Shinshu Matsumoto, which looks out on the Alps.

History and Origins

The name of the festival, "Matsumoto-Bonbon," derives from a custom called "bonbon" long handed down in the land of Matsumoto. "Bonbon" is an event related to Tanabata in which girls form a line and walk while singing a song beginning "Bonbon totemo...," and its origins are said to date back to the Edo period. It is one of the Tanabata dance customs once seen in various places across the country, but today it has almost entirely been lost, and its traces have been handed down in Matsumoto. By bearing the name of this old custom rooted in the castle town of Matsumoto, the new summer festival was linked to the region's tradition.

The present "Summer Festival Matsumoto-Bonbon" was founded against the background of this regional tradition, as a summer festival that creates liveliness in the town and that citizens can enjoy as one. The number of participating groups and dancers has continued to increase year by year, reaching its 51st edition in 2025. With 141 organizations participating and the number of people joining the dance reaching 7,400 in some years, its scale is the largest in Nagano Prefecture. The course in which it has grown greatly into a modern citizen-participation summer festival while inheriting the name of an old Tanabata custom shows one form of connecting tradition to the future.

Highlights

The greatest highlight is, above all, the large-scale mass dancing that fills the central market district. Onto the main streets stretching from the east side of Matsumoto Station to Matsumoto Castle, numerous groups clad in matching costumes pour out and dance all together in time to the lively "Matsumoto-Bonbon" song. Each group colors the streets with costumes and choreography full of ingenuity, and just watching the dancers arriving one after another lets you feel the heat of the castle town's summer with your whole body.

The appeal of this festival also lies in the fact that you can not only watch but "participate." Various organizations such as companies, neighborhood associations, and clubs form groups and take part, and it is an open festival in which anyone, regardless of age or gender, can join the circle of dance. With a low barrier between spectators and dancers, the hand-clapping of people along the route and the shouts of the dancers resonate together, and the whole town comes to be wrapped in a single rhythm. On the streets of the castle town against the backdrop of the National Treasure Matsumoto Castle, the sight of so many people delighting in the same song and dance is an unforgettable scene unique to the summer of Shinshu.

Access and Visiting Information

The Summer Festival Matsumoto-Bonbon is held on the first Saturday of August each year in the central market district of Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture. The venue is the area from the east side of Matsumoto Station to Matsumoto Castle, and the dancing unfolds from evening into the night. For details such as the recruitment of participating groups, the day's course, and the times, it is best to check the official information of Matsumoto-Bonbon or the organizers such as the Matsumoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

For access, Matsumoto Station, served by the JR Shinonoi Line and Oito Line, serves as the gateway, and since the east side of the station itself becomes the venue, visiting by public transportation is extremely convenient. Matsumoto also has good rail access from the Nagoya area and the Tokyo metropolitan area, making it easy to visit even from afar. On the festival day, large-scale traffic restrictions are in place in the central market district, and it bustles with many people, so the use of public transportation is recommended.

Nearby Attractions

Matsumoto City is a castle town centered on the National Treasure Matsumoto Castle, blessed with sights of history and culture. Matsumoto Castle, said to be Japan's oldest surviving five-tiered, six-story keep, is known as a famous castle with the beautiful contrast of black and white, and is a sight you should definitely visit along with the festival. On Nakamachi Street and Nawate Street, which retain the atmosphere of a castle town, you can stroll through streetscapes lined with storehouse-style buildings and tour local crafts. Matsumoto is also a gateway to mountain scenic spots such as the Utsukushigahara Highlands and Kamikochi, so it can be combined with a trip savoring the magnificent nature unique to Shinshu.

Related Information

Matsumoto-Bonbon is a festival in which tradition and the modern era are joined, having developed into a modern citizen-participation summer festival while inheriting the name of the "bonbon" Tanabata custom with origins in the Edo period. While boasting the largest scale in Nagano Prefecture, with more than 140 organizations and over 7,000 dancers participating, at its foundation lies an open sense of unity in which anyone can join the circle of dance. Staged in a castle town that holds the National Treasure Matsumoto Castle, this festival, which enlivens the short summer of Shinshu as a whole town, will continue to color the summer of Matsumoto warmly for years to come, while passing the region's tradition on to the future.

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