🏮 Akihasan Gongen Kabo Sai

秋葉山権現火防祭

Odawara, Kanagawa (Ryogakuin Temple) · Every year on 6 December

Traditional performing arts

83 days to go
Rooms around Odawara, Kanagawa fill up while the festival is on.

Akibayama Gongen Hifuse Matsuri is a traditional event held every year on December 6 at Akibayama Ryokaku-in in Itabashi, Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Prayers are offered for good health and freedom from illness, and the ceremony is solemnly conducted from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. After yamabushi (mountain ascetics) dressed in shugendo attire perform prayers for peace throughout the land and a yamabushi mondō (dialogue), the "hiwatari" (fire-walking) ritual, in which participants cross over the okibi fire, is held from 7:00 p.m. This Shinto rite, symbolizing the purifying power of fire, has long been passed down as a focus of faith for local people. The venue, Akibayama Ryokaku-in, is a 10-minute walk from Hakone Itabashi Station on the Hakone Tozan Line. The once-a-year hiwatari can be seen up close.