Fire-walking at Takaosan

Having just about dragged myself out of bed on a rainy Sunday morning (and bearing in mind that it seems to be sunny here almost all the time) I decided to head out to the West of Tokyo to a festival I'd seen mentioned on some posters in the station. The train ride provided a great opportunity for some exciting homework, although I'm not sure it really improved my handwriting. About 15 minutes before the destination I was accosted by the Japanese guy who had sat down next to me, who seemed overjoyed that I could speak Japanese and asked me where I was going. He claimed to know nothing about the festival, and so announced that he would come along with me to have a look. When we arrived at the station and I looked a bit more carefully at the signs I realised that (having not bothered to try and read the kanji before) it was actually a 'Fire-Crossing' Festival. My decision to leave my futon seemed to be an increasingly good one...

The festival itself consisted of a great deal of chanting and, unsurprisingly, a large bonfire which was very carefully and ceremoniously lit and then similarly precisely raked out by a group of 'yamabushi' - the modern inheritors of a warrior-monk tradition that mixes both Buddhist and Shinto elements. The participants variously carried extremely heavy things; stood very close to a great big bonfire in order to perform different ceremonial functions; whipped themselves with bamboo saplings soaked in boiling water; and of course, in the grand finale, walked through the raked out, still-smouldering ashes of the fire.

The final part of the experience was the audience-participation stage, preceded of course by a suitable amount of (extremely orderly) queuing. I would say that by the stage I crossed the sacred rope, the pile of purifying salt was rather brown, and the ash was warm rather than hot, but it was certainly still an experience, and I received another blessing to help me through my studies. Also, in a pleasantly karmic fashion, I had my photo taken (without having to ask), by a yamabushi in spectacular purple robes, whose picture I had taken a few times already.

Then the last few gulps of the delicious clean air and back on the train for Tokyo...

Here are some selected photos:

26 - Takaosan Hiwatari Matsuri