I had been looking forward to this event for a while now. I had never heard of people actually setting a whole mountainside on fire before, and it sounded pretty incredible. This is an event that takes place every year on the 4th Saturday of January, and has been a tradition for hundreds of years. I went to check it out with Issei and Hiromi.
The event kicks off not far from the base of Wakakusa. We stopped and watched a short ceremony in front of a large fire. I believe the event consisted of representatives from nearby shrines and temples, as well as the city of Nara. After the people there, and also some food were blessed, the procession proceeded up the mountain, carrying lanterns lit from the flames of the fire.
We followed the procession to the base of the mountain where they held another ceremony, though I was a bit too far to really make out what was going on. We were waiting near the edge of the roped off area, closest to where they launch the fireworks and set the mountain ablaze (though it’s still pretty far for safety reasons). We stood around, waiting for the sun to go down, on what seemed like one of the coldest days of the year. It’s nothing compared to Canada weather, but hanging out in one spot outside for over an hour eventually chills you to the bone. Fortunately, it was worth the wait. First off, there was a 20-30 minute firework display that was really amazing, check out the gallery for more. They even had deer-shaped fireworks that I caught in a video, as Nara is famous for deer.
Next up was the main event. There were several standing across the mountain to simultaneously light the fire, so as to have it burn in one straight line. It was really something to behold. It didn’t get captured very well by my phone, but someone out there probably had an actual camera or something. I should really get one of those some time. The fire didn’t provide any warmth (much to my dismay), but seeing a wall of fire like was astounding. I highly recommend anyone to go see this if they can. Pack extra warm clothes!
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