Not even a full month after Hanasaku Iroha’s final episode aired, Yuwaku hosted the first Bonbori Festival by recreating all festivities from the anime.
“If a lot of people get together and fest it up, it’s only natural that many things happen,” says Ohana in the final episode of Hanasaku Iroha, which perfectly describes how the Yuwaku Bonbori Festival came to be.
And aside from a few inspirations from other Japanese festivals, the Yuwaku Bonbori Festival has no historical roots at all – it was completely made up for the P.A. Works original anime Hanasaku Iroha.