We were living in Suzaka at the time of the fire festival, which
takes place in mid-winter (mid-January) in the small ski-resort town of
Nozawa-Onsen. This peaceful place is surrounded by rice paddies, natural
onsens (hot baths) and small wooden huts, which are standard in many
rural Japanese towns. It just seems to make it all the more blissful,
and serene seeing it all covered by a thick blanket of snow in the
Winter. It was a calm, refreshing -27 degrees on the night of the
festival.
Nozawa-Onsen is famous for it's snow. The skiing here
during Winter is second-to-none, and the small town becomes a bustling
hive of activity during this period. The main festival over the Winter
period is the fire festival. This has run for many years, and involves
the men of the village (I think 25 year olds) who cut a tree down during
the day and drag it through the village. They chant as they go, finally
erecting it in the village square by means of a series of ropes, and
with men holding on all sides, they lift and plunge the log into the
ground with sheer force. No mechanical diggers here.
Once this
feat has been accomplished, a shrine is built on top of the log and
covered by ferns for the older men to sit on when the time is right. The
end result is a kind of miniature temple on top of this log, with ropes
hanging down. When night comes, the older men (42 year olds) of the
village sit on top of this shrine, drinking sake and chanting as they
throw bundles of twigs down. The younger men (25 year olds) hold onto
the ropes to protect the shrine. A bonfire is lit, and this is gradually
pushed closer, and closer towards the shrine. As this is happening,
people from the village, starting with the kids, take the bundles thrown
from above, run to the bonfire, light these bundles and run towards the
shrine to try and set it on fire. Madness I hear you say? You're damn
right, it's insane.
The night slowly intensifies, as the flakes of
snow grow larger, and flurry down around the fiery laughter. Men with
sake bottles around their necks (cup attached) amble through the crowd
giving free sake to all, and sipping on a fair few themselves I must
say. As the fire gets closer to the shrine, the heat and atmosphere of
the festival intensify. People were grabbing bundles of fiery twigs and
smashing them into the poor, blackened faces of these young men holding
for dear life from the shrine. Protecting it like brazen soldiers on a
golden castle. Bugger it I thought, I'm going to smash them in the face
too!
I got a few looks from the locals, as I don't think it's
fully 'allowed' for geigin (Westerners) to run the gauntlet. I ignored
the drunken stares, and jumped in there. I fought with the other guys,
vying for a bundle to fall from above. As it came down, I found that my
somewhat small stature in the western world was a tall advantage in the
short world of Japan. 'I am a giant!' I roared as I jumped through the
seething Japanese mass, to claim my woody prize. I turned and made my
way back to the bonfire which was roaring away, as it got closer to the
shrine. I plunged my bundle into the flames where the heat was so
intense I had to turn away.
As my hands began to swell with the
heat, I pulled my flaming bundle out and turned to face my challengers,
swaying from their ropes, with charcoal faces, and some blood showing
from their scratches. Eyeballs still intact thank god. I bared my teeth
and charged full steam at the young, burnt men flailing the fiery mass
above my head like a mad man. There were screams, and shouts as I
smashed the burning bundle into the faces of the men, protecting their
'castle'. It was all to no avail though, as my bundle fell to pieces in
my hands, the men triumphant in their cause. I walked back to where I
had come from, stopping for a compulsory shot of sake on the way. I was
still 'man'.
The festival comes to a close, when the fire gets
right up to the shrine. They get the drunken men off the top, and
basically set fire to the whole thing. The fire is huge. We stood their
smiling and enjoying the atmosphere of these beautiful, crazy Japanese
people, all enjoying themselves in the snow and fire. As the shrine
collapsed, we turned to go, having a shot of sake on the way, and
laughing at the state of the sake man himself. I guess in life there are
some things that just have to be seen to be believed....and
appreciated. The
Nozawa Onsen fire festival is definitely one of those
things.
