On 15 January those not in their unlucky year attack with fire, and those who are in it defend.
Every 15 January the village builds a huge shrine of wood and straw (社殿) in the middle of the settlement: the men who are not in their unlucky year (yakudoshi) attack it with fire, while those who are at that age defend it, in a clash that ends when the fire is let in. Families whose first-born child was born the year before build a special lantern.
A festival of the god of roads (dōsojin), protector of the village boundaries and of children's growth, which in Nozawa Onsen takes the form of a real ritual siege by fire. Handed down since at least the Tenpō period (1830–1844), it has been an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property since 13 December 1993, and is one of the three greatest fire festivals in Japan.
ℹ️ A free public event, on the evening of 15 January in the centre of the hot-spring village.
🚉 Chuo Bus Terminal · 3 min walk
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