Akiha Fire Festival秋葉の火まつり · Akiha no Hi Matsuri

When it is held

The Akiha Fire Festival (秋葉の火まつり, Akiha no Hi Matsuri) is held on December 15 and 16 every year at Akihasan Hongū Akiha Shrine (秋葉山本宮秋葉神社) on Mount Akiha, in the Haruno area of Tenryū Ward, Hamamatsu. The main rites take place at the upper shrine (上社, kamisha) near the summit:

• December 15, 2:30 pm: the Miare-sai (御阿禮祭).
• December 16, 1:30 pm: the annual grand festival (reitaisai).
• December 16, 10 pm: the fire festival itself, the Hibuse no Matsuri (防火祭), the "festival of fire prevention".

The three dances

At 10 pm on December 16, three priests who inherit the dances as a secret tradition perform them in the darkness of the shrine's dance hall, with musicians lined up beside them:

• The bow dance (弓の舞, yumi no mai): the first priest dances with a bow in his left hand and a bell in his right, starting slowly and growing wilder, then shoots five arrows to the four directions and finally to the ceiling. Where they land is said to foretell the coming year's harvest.
• The sword dance (剣の舞, ken no mai): the second priest dances with a sword and a bell to calm the spirits of the earth and hold back evil, then with a sword in each hand to cut away sin and impurity.
• The fire dance (火の舞, hi no mai): a torch lit from the perpetual sacred flame kept deep inside the main hall (万年の御神燈) is brought to the dance hall, and the priest swings it high and low to drive away fire, flood, misfortune and illness.

The fire dance has been handed down only at this shrine.

The shrine

According to the shrine, Akihasan Hongū Akiha Shrine was founded in 709 and is the head shrine of the many Akiha shrines across Japan. As a shrine to the god of fire prevention, it draws visitors who work with fire, from firefighters and thermal power plant staff to cooks. Tokyo's Akihabara district takes its name from an Akiha shrine set up there in the Meiji era, when fires were frequent in the city. The festival is said to have its origins in the Nara period (710–794), and the three dances took their present form in the Kamakura period.

Akiha-dera

About 20 minutes' walk down the mountain from the upper shrine is the temple Akiha-dera (秋葉寺, Shūyōji), which enshrines Sanjakubō, a deity of fire prevention, and holds its own fire festival on the same two days. At the temple, December 15 is the send-off of Sanjakubō on a round of fire festivals across the country, and December 16 is the welcome of his return.

Tips

• The main rite starts at 10 pm on a mid-December night near a mountain summit, so dress for real cold.
• Plan the journey back before you go; the shrine is in the mountains of northern Hamamatsu.
• The rites are religious ceremonies, so follow the instructions of shrine staff.