Wakakusa Yamayaki 2027 (Nara Mountain Burning)

On one winter night each year, the grass slopes of Mount Wakakusa on the east side of Nara Park are set alight. A grand fireworks display, including large shakudama shells, opens at 18:15, and at 18:30 the local fire brigades light the hillside all at once, leaving the whole slope burning until around 19:30. Earlier in the evening a sacred fire procession carries the flame from the Kasuga Taisha Otondo bonfire across Tobihino to Nogami Shrine. You can watch for free from the open lawns of Nara Park such as Kasugano Park, and there is also a paid viewing area at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Wakakusa has an ancient burial mound, Uguisuzuka Kofun, near its summit, and the burning is said to have begun as a way to calm the spirits resting there. By the Edo period people were setting the hill alight on their own, and after fires spread toward Todai-ji, the temples Todai-ji and Kofuku-ji began burning it under the watch of the Nara magistrate. Today the shrine Kasuga Taisha and the two temples still take part together, praying for the souls of those who came before, for protection of Nara from fire, and for peace. Mountain priests (yamabushi) blowing conch shells lead the torch procession, and the torches are lit as the three temples' monks chant.