Unique fire festival uses large torches to light up city at foot of Mt. Fuji
(Mainichi Japan)
FUJIYOSHIDA, Yamanashi -- A total of 93 large torches lit up the night sky over this city at the foot of Mount Fuji during the "Yoshida no Himatsuri" (Fire festival in Yoshida) on Aug. 26.
The annual event is believed to have been held for some 400 years and is designated as an important intangible folk cultural property by the national government. It is known to be one of the three major unique festivals in Japan.
The about-3-meter-high torches, which were gifts from local companies and others, are arranged over approximately 2 kilometers along a street lined with houses of priests who used to lodge worshippers to Mount Fuji visiting the holy summit.
The torches were ignited and left burning until midnight after two portable shrines were paraded through the city. About 190,000 people from in and outside of the prefecture visited the festival, according to its organizer.
(Japanese original by Toshio Odagiri, Fujiyoshida Local Bureau)
