🏮 Nachi no Hi Matsuri

那智の火祭り

Nachikatsuura, Wakayama (熊野那智大社) · Every year on 14 July

Summer festivalMikoshi

303 days to go
Rooms around Nachikatsuura, Wakayama fill up while the festival is on.

Nachi no Himatsuri (officially the Nachi no Ogi Matsuri) is a traditional festival held every year on July 14 at Kumano Nachi Taisha in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture. It is designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property and is known as one of Japan's three great fire festivals. The origin is said to be a ritual reenacting the descent of the gods to Nachi Falls. It is one part of Kumano worship, which strongly retains traces of nature worship and the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism, and it carries the ceremonial meaning of purification and rebirth: cleansing by fire and purification at the falls. The core of the festival is the sight of bearers shouldering 12 large torches, each 2 to 3 meters long and weighing 50 to 60 kilograms, swinging them vigorously as they march along the stone steps of the approach to Nachi Falls. With this fire, the spirits of the gods of the 12 mikoshi (portable shrines) that represent the sacred body of Nachi Falls are purified.

Getting there

About 15 minutes by Kumano Kotsu bus from Nachi Station on the Kisei Main Line, then get off at Nachi no Taki-mae and it is right there. Alternatively, about 15 minutes by taxi from Kii-Katsuura Station.