Matsuri da! (7): Risking life and limb

ONE OF THE MOST gripping aspects of Japanese festivals is that the activities seem as if they are a proto-extreme sport that could result in a participant’s serious injury, if not death. No, it is not an exaggeration to mention fatalities. Last fall in Taku, a town about a 40-minute drive away from me, a high school boy was killed during a festival whose main event involved two groups trying to smash each other’s o-mikoshi, or portable shrine.

It’s a wonder that someone doesn’t die every year during the Oto Festival held by the Kamikura shrine, in Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture. It’s also called the Light Festival, because a horde of 2,200 men carrying flaming torches race headlong down 538 stone steps on the steep slopes of a mountain to create what local residents call a “river of flames”.

Here’s what happens. The men and boys dress in white costumes—symbols of purity—with ropes knotted around their waist. No sports shoes to make it easier on themselves—they’re shod in straw sandals. Only men participate because of the ancient belief that women are impure and defile the mountain. (They bleed, don’t you know.) This is the same primitive idea that keeps women from entering the sumo wrestler’s ring. Another possibility is that most women are smart enough to avoid harebrained, daredevil activities that have the potential to snap your spinal cord.

The guys bring their torches and gather at the bottom of the mountain leading up to the shrine, which is close to the summit. This is a Japanese festival, so they’ve already had a snootful to drink. It also probably helps take their mind off of what they’re about to do that night.

Before going up to the shrine, they whack their torches together and yell “Tanomu-de!” (I’m counting on you.) The mountain is roped off for the exclusive use of the men at 7.00 p.m.

They walk up the steps to the shrine, which is built just below the large sacred rock that is the facility’s deity. The men share the sacred fire amongst themselves to light their torches. Picture if you can a steep, narrow mountain path with more than 2,000 burning torches in an confined area, creating a tableau of men dressed in ancient clothing, columns of smoke, and a living, sacred flame.

The shrine gate is flung open, the men shout “Wo, wo,” and they start running down the hill as fast as they can. Do you want to count the ways they put themselves at risk? They could trip on the old stone steps as they run down the mountain wearing sandals, in the middle of a mob of 2,000 men that could trample them underfoot, carrying a burning torch in the middle of a forest. Yet, astonishingly enough, the men compete to see who can make it down the hill first—they keep track—and scuffles break out along the way.

At the end, the men take the torches home to light kitchen fires. It’s a New Year’s festival timed to coincide with the new year in the lunar calendar. This year’s Oto Festival was held last week, on the 8th.

The earliest records of the festival date back about 1,400 years ago.

Take a look at this page to get a better idea of the logistics involved. Try to imagine yourself running down that hill in the dark in sandals while carrying a torch. Try to imagine what municipal officials, police, the fire department, insurance companies, and do-gooders, not to mention wives, in other countries would say about this event before they refused to issue the required permits. There are also clear views of the rock that is the shrine deity. This page has another view, about halfway down.