Gozan Okuribi (Five Mountain Bonfires)

京都五山送り火

Kyoto’s summer rite for sending the spirits of the ancestors back after Obon. From 8 p.m., fires lit one after another on the mountains around the city trace the character for “great” (Daimonji), the words myō and hō, a boat, a second “great” and a shrine gate. Held every year on 16 August.

16 August 2027

289 days away

Every year, 16 August

Future dates: 16 August 2027 · 16 August 2028 · 16 August 2029

Origin

Okuribi, “sending-off fires”, close the Obon season by sending the ancestral spirits welcomed at its start back to the Pure Land. The association that runs the fires believes they became widespread from the Muromachi period, as Buddhism reached ordinary people, and that the present five had taken shape by the mid-Edo period. Each fire has its own origin story, such as the traditions that Kūkai or the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa began the Daimonji, but almost no records survive from the time. That, it is said, is because these are religious rites begun by local believers, and they are still carried on by the people living below each mountain.

What to look for

The Daimonji on Nyoigatake in the eastern hills is lit at 8 p.m., and the fire then travels at five-minute intervals across the mountains to the north and west. The myō and hō at Matsugasaki come at 8:05, the boat at Nishigamo at 8:10, the Hidari Daimonji (“left Daimonji”) on Ōkitayama near Kinkaku-ji at 8:15 and the shrine gate at Saga at 8:20, and each burns for about 30 minutes. No single spot shows all five, so choose a place by the fire you most want to see: the Daimonji from the Kamo River between Marutamachi and Misono bridges or from Kyoto Gyoen, the shrine gate from around Togetsukyō Bridge or Hirosawa Pond.

How to watch

The organisers describe the fires as a religious rite in which ancestor worship and Buddhism meet. On the day, all five mountains are closed so that the lighting can go ahead safely (all but Mt Daimonji are closed year-round), and visitors are asked not to fly drones. To keep the mood, the city asks for outdoor lights and neon signs to be switched off for an hour from 7:50 p.m., except in Yamashina and Fushimi wards. Stay off the riverbanks at night if you can, as they are dark and people fall, and keep off them entirely when the water is high. Do not walk while looking at your phone in the crowds. In rain or strong wind the lighting times may shift. Beyond watching, you can take part by offering a gomagi, a stick of wood inscribed with a prayer for your ancestors or for good health, which is burned in the fires.

If you go

This is an evening event: the first fire is lit at 8 p.m. and the last, the shrine gate, goes out at around 8:50. There is no single venue; people watch from all over the city, looking up at the mountains. Popular spots fill early, and Kyoto nights in mid-August are hot; for anyone wanting to avoid the crowds and the risk of heatstroke, the tourism association suggests watching the live broadcast by KBS Kyoto and BS11 on television or online. Gomagi for the Daimonji are accepted outside the gate of Ginkaku-ji on the afternoon of the 15th and the morning of the 16th, and the other mountains have their own collection points, until supplies run out. On the evening before, the 15th, Yūsen-ji in Matsugasaki holds the Daimoku Odori and Sashi Odori dances, and anyone may join the Sashi Odori. Lanterns are also floated on the river at Arashiyama on the evening of the 16th.

Where

Five mountains around Kyoto (Nyoigatake, Matsugasaki, Nishigamo, Ōkitayama, Saga Toriimoto)

Kyoto

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Sources

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