Daisen Summer Mountain Opening Festival

大山夏山開き祭

The festival that opens the summer climbing season on Mt Daisen in Daisen, Tottori. On Saturday night a torch procession, the torches lit from the sacred fire of Ōgamiyama Shrine’s inner shrine, flows like a river of fire for about a kilometre down the stone-paved approach. On Sunday a rite for climbers’ safety is held on the summit. Held every year on the first Saturday of June and the following Sunday.

5–6 June 2027

215 days away

Every year, the 1st Saturday of June, for 2 days

Future dates: 5 June 2027 · 3 June 2028 · 2 June 2029

Origin

Mt Daisen appears in the eighth-century Izumo Fudoki as Hinokami-dake, “the mountain of the fire god”. The festival, a prayer for climbers’ safety, began after the Second World War and was held for the 80th time in 2026. The torch procession is said to have been the idea of Oda Osamu, a climber devoted to Daisen, and his friends, who had been moved by a torch procession at a mountaineering meet in Akita. With the summit rite the next day, the summer climbing season on Daisen is declared open.

What to look for

On Saturday night, after a rite at Ōgamiyama Shrine’s inner shrine, each walker lights a torch from the sacred fire, and the procession makes its slow way about a kilometre down to the festival ground at Hakurouza. Lantern poles, priests, a tengu and warrior monks lead, followed by everyone else, and the line of flames runs from the inner shrine’s approach, said to be the longest path of natural paving stones in Japan, down the approach to Daisen-ji temple. At the end, walkers throw their torches onto a bonfire. Food stalls and a stage fill the Hakurouza ground from midday. The next morning the summit rite is held on Misen, the summit, and anyone who climbs up can attend.

How to watch

The torch procession is a sacred rite involving fire. The organisers say photographers shooting in no-photography areas, hogging spots and quarrelling with each other have become a problem, and ask people to make room for one another and not to get in the procession’s way. Anyone behaving dangerously or breaking the rules may be asked to move or leave. Home-made torches are not allowed. The procession goes ahead in light rain; the summit rite is cancelled in stormy weather, and the Daisen tourism organisation announces it.

If you go

To walk in the torch procession you need an advance ticket; none are sold on the day (in 2026, 2,000 yen with a souvenir, limited to 1,000). Watching is free, from the Hakurouza ground or along the Daisen-ji approach. The torches are bamboo tubes about 60 cm long filled with kerosene; children may take part at their parents’ discretion. Nights on Daisen are cold, so bring a jacket, and wear sturdy shoes for the uneven, slippery paving. Parking near the ground is limited, and a free shuttle bus runs from the Makihara car park (2026).

Where

Ōgamiyama Shrine inner shrine to Hakurouza, Daisen

Daisen, Tottori

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Sources

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