Yoshida Fire Festival & Susuki Festival

About this event

Designated as a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, the "Yoshida Fire Festival and Susuki Festival" is a traditional festival held every year on August 26 and 27 at both Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine and Suwa Shrine. On the afternoon of the 26th, large portable shrines (omikoshi) and Mikage go on a procession through the parishioner neighborhoods, and at dusk, over 100 large torches reaching up to 3 meters in height, along with stacked well-crib torches at each household, are lit all at once, engulfing the town in flames. As darkness falls on the 27th, a solemn scene unfolds as parishioners and spectators hold "susuki tamagushi" (sacred pampas grass branches) and circle the shrine grounds alongside the portable shrine. Also known as the "Chinkasai" (Fire Quelling Festival), this festival embodies prayers to calm the eruption of Mount Fuji. Known also as the festival that marks the end of the Mount Fuji summer climbing season, it attracts many visitors who come to witness the mystical and dynamic view of the flames. In the final stage of the festival, known as the Susuki Festival, a Shinto ritual is performed in which the portable shrine parades through the town and returns to the shrine, conveying the deep devotion of the prayers.

Venue

Kamiyoshida

Kamiyoshida, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi 403-0005