Oniyo

Origin

A rite of expulsion at Daizenji Tamataregū, which the shrine’s own account dates to the year 368. A minister of the court, under imperial order, is said to have hunted down a bandit troubling the district by searching for him in the dark with torches, and to have put him to death. **The torches are not staging; in the story they are the tool that was used.** The New Year rite runs as a sequence, and the Oniyo on 7 January is the act that completes it. It was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 1994.

What to look for

Six great torches, reportedly some thirteen metres long and 1.2 tonnes each. Hundreds of men, stripped to loincloths, hold them up and steer them around the precinct with poles. **But the torches are not lit until around half past nine at night; the eight hours before that are processions and the drawing of seawater.** You watch from within range of the falling sparks. It is counted among Japan’s three great fire festivals.

How to watch

Spectators stand where sparks fall: avoid synthetic clothing, tie back hair, and think twice about a hat. Never stand on the line a torch is travelling. You will be outdoors, at night, in midwinter, for a long time.

If you go

**It runs from one in the afternoon until past eleven at night, and the torches come at the end.** If you only want the fire, arrive in the evening; but the day makes more sense from the afternoon procession onward. The date is fixed, so the weekday shifts each year and some years fall mid-week. It finishes close to midnight, and the shrine is in Daizenji rather than central Kurume, so check how you will get back. Dress on the assumption that sparks will land on you.

Where

Daizenji Tamataregū

Kurume, Fukuoka

Sources

• Daizenji Tamataregū, official page on the Oniyo
• Daizenji Tamataregū, official calendar of rites
• Kurume Convention & International Exchange Association