Traditional festivals called matsuri are found all over Japan. In this series, we present diverse matsuri and the preparations leading up to them. Each matsuri presents a new face of local Japan.
Ended
MATSURI: The Heartbeat of Japan
February 23, 2023
March 22, 2023
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English, Japanese
A group of men use ladles to throw water over the buildings they pass at Hibuse Matsuri, the Fire Prevention Festival in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture. Temperatures are often below freezing, and bonfires help to keep everyone warm. The event conveys a prayer for the safety of residents and buildings in the coming year. It originated around 1,200 years ago, when bandits set fire to a local shrine. Legend has it that a herd of deer brought waterlogged bamboo grass to put out the flames.
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