F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-197
Kashōsai (Fire-Walking Festival)
火渉祭（火渡り）かしょうさい（ひわたり）
Kashōsai is a fire-walking rite held on the winter solstice at the foot-of-mountain shrine on the western flank of Mt. Kaba. Firewood is heaped up and set ablaze in the precincts, and white-robed priests and mountain ascetics — followed by ordinary worshippers — tread barefoot across the smoldering embers to pray for good health and protection from misfortune. The path of fire is said to be about six meters long, and those who cross it do so while raising shouts of resolve. Charred firewood left after the crossing is carried home and hung under the eaves, where it is believed to ward off colds and illness. Mt. Kaba has long been known as a sacred mountain of Shugendō, and the rite retains a strong imprint of mountain worship and ascetic practice. The sight of flame and bare feet meeting in the depth of winter makes Kashōsai a precious folk event that transmits to the present day the bodily technique of purification by fire central to Japan's mountain religion.
H I G H L I G H T S
Highlights
- 01A fire-walk in which white-robed priests and ascetics — and then ordinary worshippers — cross smoldering embers barefoot
- 02An austere feat of crossing an roughly six-meter "path of fire" over heaped, burning firewood with shouts of resolve
- 03The custom of carrying home the charred firewood left afterward and hanging it under the eaves as a charm against colds and illness
D E E P D I V E