HAMAN — Haman Nakhwanori, a traditional festival in which embers rain down over a pond, is taking root as a nighttime tourism product aimed at Japanese travelers. The 2026 Haman Nakhwanori Japan Special Day, held on the 15th at Mujinjeong Pavilion in Haman, drew 1,500 Japanese tourists, a record high.
South Gyeongsang Province and the Gyeongnam Tourism Organization said on the 16th that the event was organized jointly with Haman County and the Korea Tourism Organization. It was designed to promote Haman Nakhwanori to Japanese visitors and to attract more foreign tourists by linking the festival with other tourism resources in the province.
Japanese visitors to Haman Nakhwanori numbered 500 in 2024, 1,000 last year and 1,500 this year. In July this year, a Global Special Day event drew about 1,000 tourists from Taiwan, Hong Kong and elsewhere. Last year, Haman Nakhwanori was selected in the regional specialty content category of the Korea Tourism Stars awards hosted by the Korea Tourism Organization.
The event began at 5 p.m. with a fusion gugak performance and traditional culture programs. After 6 p.m., embers fell from thousands of nakhwabong, or fire sticks, strung above the pond at Mujinjeong Pavilion. Japanese visitors recorded the display over the water in photos and videos.
South Gyeongsang Province and the Korea Tourism Organization also launched promotional efforts in Japan around the event. They invited seven Japanese travel media outlets and two YouTubers on a familiarization tour covering Haman Nakhwanori and the Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival. The province plans to promote its nighttime tourism resources in the Japanese market and develop linked tour packages.
"Haman Nakhwanori is drawing an explosive response from global tourists with each passing year," said Kim Sang-won, director general of the tourism development bureau at South Gyeongsang Province. "Rather than settling for the Japanese market, we will develop new tour products for Asian markets including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, and build South Gyeongsang into a world-class glocal tourism hub."
"We will expand longer-stay tour packages that link distinctive local festivals with tourism resources, so that visits by foreign tourists translate into tourism spending and economic activity across the province's cities and counties," said Bae Jong-cheon, chief executive of the Gyeongnam Tourism Organization.