200 LED Candle Lanterns Lit in Sendai to Support Children with Childhood Cancer

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, September 7, 2025

SENDAI — People lit about 200 LED lanterns in Sendai on Saturday evening to mourn children who have died of childhood cancer and support those who are struggling with it.

The event was held on the roof of the Yagiyama Zoological Park Station building of the city-run metro, as September is recognized worldwide as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

The event was organized by andbrights, a nonprofit organization that supports children with childhood cancer and their family members.

Children who are hospitalized in Miyagi Children’s Hospital, which is run by the prefecture, and Tohoku University Hospital wrote messages on the lanterns.

Some contained messages such as, “Don’t give up on hope,” and “I hope everyone gets better.”

Yuri Chiba, 42, a representative of the NPO, lost her son, Yudai, to cancer when he was 8 years old in 2022. On her lantern she wrote, “I’m always with you. Cheer me on from the heaven.”

Chihiro Aihara, 33, a public servant in Sendai who came to the event with family members, said, “I hope I can also do something. I hope these cancers will become curable.”

Coinciding with the campaign month, the statue of warlord Date Masamune on horseback in the ruins of Sendai Castle and the Sendai Sky Candle tower will be illuminated in gold until Thursday.