Nachi-no-Ogi Festival (Nachi Fire Festival)

Event

A festival held by Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine in Wakayama Prefecture, the Nachi-no-Ogi Festival, popularly known as the Nachi Fire Festival, is one of Japan's three greatest fire festivals. The festival was designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 2015. The festival is believed to have originally been related to the transfer of the deity Kumano Fusumi no Kami from Hananoiwa Shrine; today the festival is held to pray for good farming and bountiful harvests. One of the highlights of the festival is the spectacle created as several white-clothed men carry giant burning torches weighing over 50 kilograms along the winding approach to the shrine.