F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-251

Ohinata no Hitoboshi (Ohinata Fire-Whirling Festival)

大日向の火とぼしおおひなたのひとぼし

Held every year on August 14 and 15 in the mountain hamlet of Ohinata in Nanmoku Village, Gunma, the Hitoboshi is one of the largest surviving fire festivals in the prefecture. Children climb the hillside "fire-lighting mountain" behind the village, ignite great torches of bound barley straw, and carry the flame down. Men then transfer the fire to smaller torches and, standing on Ohinata Bridge over the Nanmoku River and on the riverbed below, light bundles of straw tied to ropes two to three meters long and whirl them overhead in pairs and trios. The night fills with rings of fire while sparks rain onto the water. The festival is said to derive from a Warring-States-era episode in which villagers lit torches to mimic an advancing Takeda army and drove off the Obata forces. It was designated a Gunma Prefecture Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1992 and selected as a national intangible folk cultural property in 2006.