F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-264

Eba Fire Festival (Ottoran Festival)

江波の火祭（オットーラン祭）えばのひまつり（おっとーらんさい）

The Eba Fire Festival (Ottoran-sai) is the summer festival of Eba (Iba) Shrine in Eba, Naka Ward, Hiroshima, a fire-and-sea rite peculiar to this old fishing town said to have continued for more than 250 years since the Edo period. When Eba was still an island, the rite is said to have begun on the night of the 29th day of the sixth lunar month — when the spring high tide makes sea and land merge as one — in imitation of the Kangen-sai of Miyajima. At dusk a sacred barge (goza-bune) towed by the rowing boat Myojin-maru circles Eba Port at the mouth of the Hon River, while bonfires called hiyama are kindled on the boats and along the shore; the rowing boat circles each hiyama three times in reverence for the fire. On land, children walk along the shore in time with the barge, beating tin cans and chanting "Ottoran" ("the god is passing") to announce the deity's progress to the neighborhood. With fire and lantern light reflected on the dark water, it is a dreamlike night festival unique to this Seto Inland Sea port town.