Oniyo Fire Festival

Each winter, Kurume City in Fukuoka Prefecture holds the Oniyo fire festival. This event marks the start of the New Year and aims to remove bad luck. This 1,600-year-old festival is an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan.

Oniyo Fire Festival

Photo by: PIXTA/ Tkys-Manta

The Oniyo Fire festival began in 368. It started when a violent bandit terrorized the region. The imperial court sent the local leader Tamatare no Mikoto to stop him. To find the bandit, Tamatare used large torches to illuminate the dark areas. Eventually, they caught the bandit and executed him. The violence has stopped, and peace has returned to the region.

Over time, the bandit became known as the “oni” or demon of the story. The torch symbolized truth and justice, while darkness represented fear and hidden troubles. Fire exposed and destroyed this darkness.

This festival at the start of the year is also a prayer for health and safety. A torch floated in the river purifies and washes away bad luck, with sparks thought to bring strength and long life.

Rituals of Fire and Movement

Photo by: PIXTA/ 灼絃

The Oniyo Fire Festival takes place mainly at Daizenji Tamataregu Shrine. A stream flows in front of the shrine, and there is a large open space around the courtyard. On the festival day, the deity is honored and placed in Onido (a special hall) for a short time. Local young men wearing only loincloths gather at Tamatare Park behind the shrine. They carry lanterns and small torches. When the river gate opens, hundreds of young men rush forward in lines. They purify themselves at the river and then run back up the shrine path. During this time, the approach looks like a river of fire.

Then the first bell rings, the temple grounds go dark. A small sacred fire is carefully brought out from the inner shrine. When the second bell rings, six large torches are lit simultaneously with that fire. Each torch is about 13 meters long, about a meter thick and weighs about 1.2 tons. The flames fly upward, scattering sparks and heat. At that time, tengu (mischievous supernatural beings in Shinto belief) wearing red and blue masks perform a ritual to drive away evil spirits by raising spears.

The young men carry burning torches on heavy wooden poles and walk clockwise around the shrine. Drums and bells grow louder. This moment is the heart of the festival.

At the end of the festival, they carry one torch through the main gate to the river for a final purification ceremony. Then, the torches are put out one by one. Oniyo Festival ends there.