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Hachioji Festival
area
category
Shooting location
Asahi Town, AsahiTown District
Explanatory text
This fire festival, held every year on August 13th, is designated as an intangible folk cultural property by AsahiTown. The festival float is pulled around the area while large drums and gongs are struck, and then paraded to obuke Shrine. Within the shrine grounds, people beat each other with burning bundles of straw to drive away evil spirits and diseases that may be possessing people. At the end, a large torch 5 to 6 meters high is lit, and a pillar of fire is raised up. This is a ritual to send away the epidemics that are prevalent in midsummer along with the pillar of fire.
Data size
1479×1020px