Nanakuri Shrine Autumn Festival Naked Fire Festival

七久里神社秋季祭典裸祭りななくりじんじゃしゅうきさいてんはだかまつり

D A T E2026-09-26

A naked fire festival dedicated at the evening rite of the autumn festival of Nanakuri Shrine in Yamamoto, Iida City, Nagano, and one of southern Shinshu's signature festivals. Strapping young men chosen from the seven hamlets of the Yamamoto district, half-naked with a great straw rope wound around their waists, parade into the precincts while swinging large wooden buckets weighing about 15 to 20 kilograms above their heads. At the climax, a great tube firework called the 'Daisangoku,' rigged to the top of a pole erected at the center of the grounds, erupts into flame, and the men keep swinging and dancing with their buckets while showered in the falling sparks. Formed by stylizing a local tradition of handmade fireworks together with the movements of Edo-era firefighters and the look of grass sumo, this roughly 700-year-old harvest festival is a valiant and dreamlike fire rite uniting flame, smoke, bare bodies, and roar.

七久里神社秋季祭典裸祭り — 出典: NPO日本の祭りネットワーク（https://www.nippon-matsuri.net/report/nanakuri/）※掲載許諾申請中

H I G H L I G H T S

Highlights

01The climactic scene as men keep swinging their buckets while bathed head to toe in sparks from the 'Daisangoku' tube firework atop the pole
02The valor of half-naked men with great straw ropes at their waists swinging 15-to-20-kilogram buckets above their heads
03The dreamlike fusion of handmade tube and set-piece fireworks shooting into the night sky with bare bodies and falling sparks

D E E P D I V E

Deep Dive

Local Perspective

Sustained by the seven hamlets of the Yamamoto district, who each contribute participants, this festival has been carried on as the core of the area's annual calendar. In recent years some editions were canceled or scaled back due to bad weather or social conditions, and securing bearers and ensuring safety remain challenges. At the same time, the dramatic scenes of men bathed in falling sparks attract photographers and videographers, making it an autumn highlight of southern Shinshu that also draws visitors from outside the area. Locally, people take on roles in stages from childhood to adulthood, passing down both the bucket-swinging movements and the fireworks craft that sustain the festival.

R E F E R E N C E

References

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