Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from February, 2015

Nara's Wakakusa Yamayaki Matsuri!

Loosely translates as "Nara's Wakausa Mountain Mountain Fire-Burning Festival." Wakakusa Mountain rises in the background.  It's held on the 4th Saturday of January, and is a tradition that dates back hundreds of years. It's origins are debatable, but two stories have emerged as the most popular. Origin Story #1 The monks at three of the area's major temples-- Kokufuji Temple , Todaiji Temple , and Kasuga Taisha Shrine --got into a big disagreement about something, and after fighting broke out they accidentally set Wakakusa Mountain on fire. After the conflagration, the monks were able to settle their differences. From then on, they would symbolically light the mountain on fire to remind themselves of this past conflict and rededicate themselves to peace. Origin Story #2 There's an old burial mound on top of Wakakusa Mountain, and soon rumors began to spread about the angry ghosts buried there. These ghosts would wreak havoc upon the