【　The Dosojin Fire Festival on January 15, 2025.

* Admission tickets will be issued only to residents of Nozawa Onsen Village and guests staying in the village who wish to view the festival. 】

Nozawa Onsen’s Dosojin Fire Festival is one of the three biggest of such spectacles in Japan.

On the evening of January15th the festival starts in earnest, as male villagers light torches from a bonfire and stage an assault on the shaden.

The “unlucky” 42-year-olds sit on top of the shrine defending its roof while singing and chanting, and the 25-year-olds protect the wooden structure at its base, using pine branches to put out the torchbearers’ fires. Once the excitement of battle is over—and all participants have withdrawn to a safe distance—the shaden is ceremonially burned, together with large decorated lanterns on poles that are carefully made by families to bring good health and fortune to the children.

2025.01