Kyoto & Osaka · Wakayama · Shingū

Otō Matsuri (Fire Festival)

御燈祭り

The annual festival of Kamikura Shrine in Shingū, Wakayama. Some 2,000 men in white with straw ropes bound round their waists, the agariko, take sacred fire on their torches and race down 538 steep stone steps in a single rush. Kamikura is a subsidiary shrine of Kumano Hayatama Taisha, and the festival is an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan. Held every year on the night of 6 February.

6 February 2027

96 days away

Every year, 6 February

Future dates: 6 February 2027 · 6 February 2028 · 6 February 2029

Origin

Kamikura Shrine is a subsidiary of Kumano Hayatama Taisha, one of the three grand shrines of Kumano, and its object of worship is a huge boulder called Gotobiki-iwa. The Nihon Shoki records the mountain as Ama-no-Iwatate, and it is said to be where the gods of Kumano first came down to earth. A Kumano chronicle relates that the mountain gave off light on the second day of the first month in 574, and that the fire festival of Kamikura began on the night of the sixth day of the first month the following year. At heart the festival is a way of welcoming the gods into each home at the start of the old lunar year, by receiving sacred fire on the torches of those who pray. The agariko take the charred ends of their torches home and enshrine them, light lamps at the household altar and kindle the kitchen fire to greet the god of the new year. This is how the Kumano year begins. The festival became a Wakayama Prefecture intangible folk cultural property in 1964, and was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 2016.

What to look for

At around 8 p.m. the wooden gate at the torii on the mountaintop is thrown open, and the agariko race down the 538 stone steps with their torches blazing. The line of fire through the dark is sung of in the local Shingū-bushi song: “The Otō Matsuri is a festival of men; the mountain is a waterfall of fire, a dragon coming down.” From late afternoon the agariko appear all over town, knocking their torches together and calling “Tanomu de!” to one another as they make the round of three sacred sites, Asuka Shrine, Kumano Hayatama Taisha and Myōshin-ji, before heading for Kamikura. On the summit the chief priest strikes the sacred fire from flint, and it passes from a great torch to the torches of the agariko one after another. While the whole mountaintop turns into a sea of flame, they wait for the gate to open amid sparks and smoke, an ordeal for those taking part. The steps, said to have been donated by Minamoto no Yoritomo, are rough-hewn natural stone in the style known as Kamakura-zumi.

How to watch

The Otō Matsuri is a rite of welcoming the gods, in which those who pray, the agariko, purify themselves, give thanks and carry the sacred fire home. There are no festival bands or night stalls as at an ordinary matsuri, and some visitors are surprised by how quiet it is. On the day, no one may climb the mountain except the agariko, shrine staff and those with the shrine’s permission. Ordinary worship ends at noon, and from the afternoon the shrine grounds are closed to women. Spectators, women and men alike, can go as far as the arched bridge at the foot of the shrine. There is no seating; local people watch from the roads that look up at the shrine, to see the moment the summit catches fire and the flames come down. Men can also take part as agariko: the Shingū Tourist Association tells you where to buy the white clothing and torch, and helps people dress on the day. It accepts no responsibility for accidents during the festival, so take part on that understanding.

If you go

If you go, be there at around 8 p.m., when the agariko come racing down the steps. The fire on the summit and the descent can be seen from along National Route 42, which looks up at the shrine. To greet the agariko close up as they come down, stand along the road from the foot of the shrine to the gate of Kamikura Elementary School; the area around the arched bridge at the foot gets especially crowded with people watching for the first runners. Earlier in the evening you can see the agariko making their round of the three sites close up at Asuka Shrine and elsewhere. Kamikura Shrine is about 20 minutes on foot from Shingū Station on the JR Kisei Line. On the festival day parking is banned on the roads around the shrine, and traffic is restricted at night.

Where

Kamikura Shrine and central Shingū

Shingū, Wakayama

Open in maps

Sources

← All festivals