Yukake Festival
A stirring and lively festival in which portable shrines are splashed with steaming hot spring water while weaving their way along a two kilometer long path from Fudo Falls on the Fujiki River, which flows along the border of Kanagawa Prefecture and the city of Atami, to Izumi Park. Barrels filled with hot spring water are prepared along the route, and spectators vigorously splash the portable shrines and their bearers to express thanks for hot water. During the Tokugawa period, the hot spring waters of Yugawara were believed to cure all ills. These same waters were presented as gifts to shogunate families, and the festival's origins are said to lie in the practice of splashing the body with them for purification purposes and to pray for a safe journey when making the trip to present them.