Kurama Fire Festival
The annual festival of Yuki Shrine on 22 October, called one of Japan’s three great fire festivals and one of Kyoto’s three “eccentric” festivals on the shrine’s site. At 6 p.m. the bonfires stacked in front of every house in Kurama village are lit together and the festival begins: children and young men carry small and large torches through the village, and in the end the portable shrines are carried down the stone steps from the gate. Watch from the road; traffic is controlled around Kurama that day (see how to get there).
The day, hour by hour
- 9:00
- Festival rite in the main hall, then the ceremony that moves the deities into two portable shrines
- 18:00
- At the herald’s call, the bonfires at every house are lit together and the festival begins
- After that
- Large torches from each neighbourhood group set out and gather on the steps in front of the gate; the sacred rope is cut at a drum signal
- Then
- The torch festival becomes the portable-shrine festival: the shrines go down the approach, tour the parishioners’ district and return to the resting place
- Finale
- Sacred dance is offered at the resting place and four large dance torches circle the grounds
- 23rd, morning
- The shrines return from the resting place to the main hall, ending the festival
Watching tips
- The shrine’s site gives only two times, 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., and no times for the later parts; to see the scene at the gate, be in the village by early evening
- The lanes are narrow and viewing is mostly standing; the area near the gate, where the shrines pass, is the most crowded
- The torches and portable shrines are sacred: do not touch them and follow the staff
- It is cold in the mountains at night; wear warm clothes and shoes you do not mind getting dirty; the shrine says it has no parking lot, so take the train
- The return is crowded; check the last Eizan Railway and Kyoto Bus services first
Getting there and the crowds
- Getting there
- Take the Eizan Electric Railway Kurama Line to the terminus, Kurama Station (about 30 minutes from Demachiyanagi, per the Yuki Shrine site); the festival is in the village outside the station. On 22 October Kyoto Bus adds a temporary non-stop service from Kibuneguchi to Kokusaikaikan Station on the subway (nothing extra toward Kurama). Because of traffic controls, some route 52 and 32 trips are cut: the 14:39, 15:09 and 16:19 route 52 trips from Kokusaikaikan-mae toward Kurama Onsen and the 17:29 trip toward Kurama run only as far as Kibuneguchi, and the 15:29, 15:47 and 16:57 departures from Kurama Onsen start from Kibuneguchi instead. The official sources do not give the lighting time or crowd-control rules, so check Kyoto Bus, Eizan Railway and Yuki Shrine for the latest notices before you go.
What it is
The Kurama Fire Festival is the annual festival of Yuki Shrine in Kurama, Sakyo Ward, held every year on 22 October. The shrine’s site says it preserves the scene of 940, when the deity Yuki Daimyojin was moved from the palace to Kurama, north of the capital, by order of Emperor Suzaku: torches were made from reeds of the Kamo River and bonfires lit along the road, in a procession said to be about a kilometre long. The people of Kurama, moved by the ceremony, passed it down, and that is the origin of the fire festival. The shrine calls it one of Japan’s three great fire festivals; Kyoto City materials call it one of Kyoto’s three “eccentric” festivals and register it as an intangible folk cultural property.
- At 6 p.m. the bonfires in front of every house are lit at once; children carry small torches first, young men with large torches join, all chanting “Sairei, Sairyo”
- After dark the large torches gather on the stone steps in front of the gate; at a drum signal the sacred rope on the green bamboo is cut, and the festival turns from torches to portable shrines
- Going down the approach, each shrine carries an armoured warrior and is held back by ropes pulled by young women of the village; pulling the rope is said to bring an easy birth
- As the shrines come down the steps, two young men hang upside down from the carrying poles; this “Choppen” is said to be a remnant of Kurama’s coming-of-age rite
Does it go ahead in the rain?
The shrine’s site we checked states no rain rule; check its site and official Facebook page for the latest notice.
Do I need a ticket or a reservation?
The site mentions no paid seats, fees or reservations; watching from the road is normally free.
Is there parking?
The shrine says it has no parking lot of its own, only private lots near Kurama Station; with the traffic controls that day, taking the train is advised.
Sources Yuki Shrine official site (About) · Yuki Shrine official site (Access) · Kyoto Bus notice (16 Oct)