Akibasan Fire Festival

The Festival of Fire

Every year in December, in the city of Odawara in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan, they hold a festival of fire. Or more accurately, a festival offering protection from fire. This is not unusual in Japan, as there are festivals honouring more or less everything. You can find a festival going on virtually every week somewhere. It's one of the great pleasures of being in Japan, and also a great way to learn about local culture, tradition, food and generally make friends.

This year I happened to be in Japan just around the time of the festival. I was staying in the nearby Yokohama suburb of Tsurumi and we decided to make the short train journey over to Odawara to see what we could see. I document here our experiences in this mysterious corner of Eastern Japan.

Arrival in Odawara - The Castle Keep

Odawara train station is right in the center of town, and we arrived at about midday. The festival didn't get started till 5pm, but there was a castle nearby and we wanted to have a look around it before it got too dark. Odawara castle is a motte and bailey type fortification, famous for being the location of a climactic showdown in a 16th century Japanese power struggle, and we were hoping to see and learn all about it from the guardians of the castle complex. These ideas were soon shattered by our first glimpses of the castle itself. Below you can see the castle in the background, clad with scaffolding. On a side note, the two samurai on either side of Jack and myself seemed pretty legit, but the short one on the right was almost certainly not trained in any form of martial science.

Jack, Myself, Two Samurai and an imposter (possible midget ninja infiltrator)

Indeed, it seems that the original castle had been destroyed, rebuilt and destroyed again many times over the centuries. Both by invasion and earthquakes. In recent years the city of Odawara has sought to rebuild the castle and restore it's grounds to more or less its original form, give or take a few tourism friendly concessions (like an observation deck). So not only was the castle no longer standing in it's original form, but the scaffold clad worksite was actually closed to visitors while construction work proceeded. This, it seemed, was the end of our castle browsing.

Not quite. The castle complex is a rather beautiful place, and we found ourselves wandering around it for a few hours enjoying the sites, participating in shuriken (ninja star) throwing competitions and posing for photos with cute ninjas. Ninja seemed to be a theme here, not that this made any sense. Ninja were considered the lowest class of soldier in feudal Japan, and were not held to be honourable members of society, having sold their services rather than showing loyalty to a master. I guess that's just one for the tourists. 

Jack on the left, cute ninja on the right....no idea who that is in the middle

(Presumably Traditional Kamakura Period) Shuriken Throwing Booth

Many parts of the complex have been rebuilt already, and there was always an expert standing around to give us a little more information about what we were looking at. Interestingly the triforce symbol seen in the picture, and that Jack and myself are familiar with thanks to the Legend of Zelda, was seen everywhere around the site. We never did manage to understand it's significance to our surroundings

Outer Bailey of Odawara Castle

We wrapped up our time at the castle with an ice cream from a vendor in the courtyard. As I was eating it I noticed a metal stamping souvenir machine, and opted to pay the 200Y for a piece of copper stamped with an image of Odawara Castle. A mint quality piece of stamping, take it from an engineer. Well worth the money!

Onto the Festival - Into the Woods

The entire time we walked around the castle, we were mindful of a shrine situated just within the complex. A lovely shrine with a traditional garden and huge entrance gate. We had assumed this was to be the site of the festival, but a chance look at some local information on google highlighted us to the fact that we would have to make a bit of a walk to get there. The time was 4pm, and the festival was due to start in an hour. Time to move on we decided. 

The thought of a long walk was making me hungry, and so I forced Jack into stopping for a bite to eat. Foolishly we opted for a couple of "hamburg steaks" in what looked like a reasonable restaurant. The story of Japanese food is a simple one. It's fantastic. You can go to any place in Japan, no matter how big or small, how sterile or greasy, and so long as you order Japanese food; you'll be in for a treat. The food in Japan is fantastic. Unless, you order something that isn't Japanese. For some reason, the Japanese approximations of simple things like pasta and hamburger leave a great deal to be desired. A trip into any branch of Mos Burger will satisfy any questions in that regard. So here we were once again, forcing down a second class meal for lack of common sense. The only highlight of that meal was the light 80's jazz music playing in the restaurant and bathroom. I guess there was the bathroom as well, but the fully automated Japanese bathrooms are old news by now.

Now, all of that wouldn't be relevant, only that we were still full from the our garbage meal as we wandered across town towards the festival. We were still full from the meal as we ventured down small back roads without pavements and into woodland. We were still full as we found ourselves in a wooded hillside covered by tree canopy, winding a path down into a clearing towards the Akibasan Shrine. So we were still full, and we had found our way to a magical looking place, worthy of any fantasy novel. The first thing we saw was the food. 100Y for chicken satay sticks, and noodles, mochi rice balls and all other manner of treat. My heart sunk. I am happy to spend way too much on a fruitless pursuit, or failed venture, but when I just throw money away...that really hurts.

Satay sticks for £0.60

I couldn't even bare to examine what was on sale here, but it smelt great!

Anyway, enough about food. We were here to fire festival it up. However and whenever that would be the case. Upon picking our jaws up off the floor and focussing our attention on the festivities at hand, we could see a crowd of people, locals no doubt, gathered around some robed priests. The priests were handing out mochi balls, freshly made by a couple of guys a few feet away. Drums were being beaten and chants made. I reached for my camera and went back up the forest stairway a little for a better vantage point. The priest immediately approached Jack and offered him a drink of water from a large bowl. Jack could see the still wet lips of over 30 people around him, and fearing some manner of bacterial cross contamination, politely declined "Daijōbudesu",or "it's ok".  I could see he felt pressured, and he did well to get out of it! I had just about managed to get this one click away, before we were engaged....

The Sight on Arrival to the Festival

An older woman was at the front of the crowd, and she had spotted us. I had been at the back on the forest stairway the whole time, but Jack had now scurried back after the near miss with the spit bucket and joined me, giving away our position. The woman saw us and spoke to the priest handing out mochi, and then began waving at the people nearby and pointing to us. She was calling us over to the front. So after a quick glance at each other we made our way to the front and said hello. She greeted us with a big smile and asked us to try some mochi. I had tried moch before, from the convenience store. It's usually quite sugary in that form, and often coated in some sweet sauce. This was the first time I had ever tried fresh mochi. Note; that when I say fresh, I mean it had been made literally seconds earlier by a two-man crew with a mallet and bucket. It was delicious, and had the texture of a stress relief ball. She gave Jack a pat on the back and invited us to stay at the front and observe. This was pretty much the story of Japan in a nutshell. People everywhere go out of their way to involve you, make you feel welcome and generally look after you. Sure there are some weirdos about, but by and large Japan is perhaps the friendliest place I have ever visited, and I mean that on a country wide scale.

My first instinct when I saw that old woman point at us had been a negative one. Growing up in London, having someone point and shout and single (or double as the case was) you out in a crowd is seldom a good thing. But when we got to the front and I understood what was going on, I felt ashamed for making the assumption that I did. Here is a photo I snapped of the that lovely woman who demanded that we make ourselves at home. If you ever read this, thank you! 

New Friend (foreground), Priest Handing Out Mochi (background)

So, as the mochi eating and drums proceeded we walked about the place taking photos and saying hello. I practiced my Japanese with a few folk and even managed to have a whole conversation. Then suddenly the drums stopped and the priests all lined up and walked away down a long staircase heading further down into the woods. Presumably the next phase of the festival was beginning. The assumption between myself and Jack was that this would be the fire part of the fire festival. There was a small bonfire prepared over on one side of the clearing, which also happened to contain a school or nursery building. Folk with still and video cameras were starting to set up on one side and we took this as our cue to do the same. It was 5.30pm and the sun had set, but the reflex of the evening light was still in the air. 

Fire

A full two hours we waited, not really knowing what was going on. I think it's safe to say that there was some other activity taking place at this time. One that we were completely oblivious to. We made a few trips to the bathroom and actually went ahead and got ourselves some snacks from the vendors, but in all could find no trace of all the people that had been around earlier. Perhaps 40 or so people had remained in our vicinity at this time. It had gotten dark, and very cold. The only thought in my mind at this point was to see that bonfire lit up and feel the warmth of it's flames. I had gotten up and tucked my shirt into my trousers and tightened my cuffs for extra warmth in this time, but it was of limited effect. 

As darkness had fallen, the various lanterns, floodlights and fires around the wood had come to light the place up. Red, orange and green colours filled the space, and if it wasn't for the bitter cold it would have seemed magical all over again.

The forest stairway we descended to arrive here can be made out by following the trail of lights up the forest

Finally at about 7.45pm some large floodlamps became active. I reasoned to myself that an 8pm start time was being indicated. Sure enough, 15 minutes later a procession of robed priests came into the clearing area and lit the bonfire. I was so happy I almost cried. Finally I could feel heat. Intense burning heat that almost had me sweating, but I loved it. It was the most comfortable feeling you could ever imagine. I almost forgot to pay attention to what was going on. 

I owe this man a Christmas card

The fire was underway, and now it was time for.... I had no idea. It just dawned on me that all I knew about this festival was gained from a one paragraph article I had read online. It had advised of a time and location, and was accompanied by a photograph of a man waving a sword towards a bonfire. Aside form that, I knew nothing.

First up was what could only have been the head priest. He chanted and then took a place at a table for one at the head of the clearing. Following him, the first protagonist appeared. A robed monk walked over to a small weapons cache at the side of the staging area and grabbed a large battle axe. "This should be good eh!" I said to Jack. I could see he was excited too. We were warm now, we were ready to enjoy ourselves. 

The man proceeded to walk around the fire, making gestures and chanting. He assumed an attack posture on several occasions, but took a fairly tame swing at the flames in each case. All in all, he failed to impress, but we assumed that such was the way. Next up was a man with a bow and arrow. He was far more interesting. Along with the pacing and chanting, he draw his bow and arrow and fired high above the crowd in four directions around the fire. When he came closest to us he aimed the arrow directly at myself and Jack, in what I hope was another congenial way of including us in the whole thing. 

Odawara Night Archer

He then aimed away from us draw the arrow back, chanted again and then fired skyward. This was the same drill as with the other corners, but this time we could hear the arrow making its way back down in the trees behind us. A quick glance to our rear reminded us that there was a building back there, and we heard the sound of something smashing not too far away. This guy was well worth the price of admission. Actually admission was free, but this gentleman was worth paying money for. 

Third up was the swordsman. When the firelight caught his face I could see it was the very same man that I had seen in the online article that had brought us here. I discussed this with Jack and we concluded that it must be the same tried and tested group that are trusted to perform these duties each year. He walked over to the weapons cache and got himself a katana blade, the weapon of a samurai. What proceeded was a show of swordsmanship. He chanted and paced with all the deliberate movements of a kata. Swinging his sword to and fro, making it clear he was the boss. 

As I upload this, I realise that this is the same guy that gave me some mochi earlier

With the weapons cache now empty, the show appeared to be over. However, another single robed figure stepped out of the darkness and brought two large sticks with him. As he walked past us I could see that they were torches. He stepped up to the flames and thrust the two sticks into the heart of the fire and lit them. What followed was a very extravagant display of dexterity. He walked to and fro, writing kanji into the air with his firesticks. He went around and around, completing several sentences before making one final bow to the flames and returning to the darkness, leaving the torches behind near the head priests table.

Fire Writing Kanji

The head priest got up from his table for one, where he had been seated motionless for the whole show.  He got up and made his way around the flames. The bonfire had died down now, and I was feeling the cold again. He instructed his priests in Japanese. I saw them pick up some long sticks and use them to dismantle what was left of the bonfire and to spread the hot embers across the floor of the clearing. 

The priest walked around the embers, pausing to speak now and then. We didn't understand a word. The suspense was building, and paused to let it build. He broke the pause by taking a step onto the embers and stood for a moment before walking slowly and calmly across. He repeated this act from each of the four cardinal directions of the clearing. Then some sort of signal was given, and the group of priests entered the staging area and made two circuits of the embers, all whilst chanting. They formed an orderly line and each of them made their way across the embers, calmly and slowly.

Priest's Performing Fire Walk

Then, just as we thought the show was really over, the priests all congregated at our end of the clearing and made a funnel shape. They were inviting the audience to take a walk across the glowing hot embers too! I did have a moment of doubt about this, but it seemed too good to pass up. I suggested Jack go first, alone, so that I could get a shot of him doing the firewalk. After that, I would go and he would return the favour. Things don't always work out as you plan though. Here's a shot of Jack making his way across. I would like to point out that shooting in low light is difficult at the best of times, never mind doing it handheld and compensating for thousands of other peoples camera flashes!

Jack's Firewalk

As for the photo of my firewalk... Like so many of my experiences when travelling, that one resides now only in my memories. That's actually the reason why I decided to write this article. I figure that I'll be old and forgetful one day, and I wont be able to tell anyone all of the things I did when I was an free wandering idiot. Jack and I actually managed to video much of what happened here in Odawara, and will compile it together into a 20-30 minute short movie with lots of interesting observations and commentary. Here is a youtube link of it (still a work in progress mind).

As for other adventures, like sea voyages in the arctic circle, night safaris on tropical islands, riding elephants and tortoises, drinking cow's blood and wrestling with nutters in the jungle; well those stories will make there way onto here too. Someday.