IN PICTURES: Hiwatari matsuri, Japan’s fire-walking festival
ByRoss Gilmore
A salaryman walking barefoot over the hot coals, and through flames which purify by burning all defilements away, prays for protection against sickness and calamity and for safety within the family during the Hiwatari fire walking festival in a fire ritual called Saito Goma-ku at Yakuo-in temple in Takaosanguchi in Tokyo, Japan.
A sacred fire burning during the Hiwatari fire walking festival in a fire ritual called Saito Goma-ku at Yakuo-in temple in Takaosanguchi in Tokyo, Japan . Every year on the second Sunday of March Yamabushi Ascetic Monks, Worshipers and participants take part at a large open-air fire ritual at the foot of the Mount Takao in western region of the Tokyo walking barefoot over the hot coals.
