The cleansing fire

Updated

For Japanese men, the ages of 25 and 42 are considered the "calamitous years". How do they ward off bad luck? With a huge wooden shrine, fire, and generous amounts of sake.

To become a man in the tiny Japanese village of Nozawa Onsen, you have to survive the Dosojin Matsuri.

Wave after wave of villagers carrying flaming torches violently attack a shrine which is being defended by the town's "unlucky" 25-year-old men.

Stinging smoke fills the air, and despite the near-zero temperature, the heat from the bonfire is so intense, you can't stay near for long.

It sounds like a health and safety nightmare, but this is one of the region's most important traditions.

Locals say this festival in honour of ancient Dosojin deities serves as a rite of passage for the village's men.

The Dosojin are gods that protect a village from disease and disaster, and you can see wooden statues of them all around Nozawa Onsen.

Here, they are also enshrined as a god of children.

Most Australian tourists know this place for its fantastic powder snow, but more and more are coming to witness this festival.

Hotel owner Ken Katagiri says many Australians time their trips especially for the battle.

Preparations for the Dosojin Matsuri festival begin months before, when sacred trees from the mountain are logged.

In the days before the January event, those trees are dragged through the town to the site where a "shaden" — or shrine — is built.

About 100 villagers work through the night, cutting logs and assembling the giant wooden structure.

Overseeing the construction is Akihiko Kadowaki, who proclaims this year's offering as "fabulous."

In a tradition that dates back to 1863, the town's 25 and 42-year-olds are responsible for building the 18-metre tower.

There are also giant lantern poles called "toro" built for each of the town's firstborn sons.

This year, there were two boys born.

"They build the shrine, burn it tonight and offer it to the god," Mr Kadowaki says.

"When they offer it, the village people set fire to this shrine and try to burn it down."

"The 25 and 42-year-olds try to prevent that — especially the 25-year-olds — who try to defend the shrine at the bottom by stopping the people attacking," he says.

The unlucky men

In Japanese cosmology, it's said that men are most unlucky in their 25th and 42nd years.

They are known as "yakudoshi", or the calamitous years, and many men carry good-luck charms and try to be on the best behaviour to get through these dangerous periods.

Others head to Nozawa Onsen to face the fire head-on.

Yohei Oyama, 25, says he was so committed to the festival that he was prepared to quit his job as a salesman in Tokyo if his company didn't let him attend.

"I always admired this magnificent festival. I think I can become a man among men," he says.

"Some of the guys are more scared about drinking."

That's because they have to consume litres of sacred Japanese sake before the festival can actually begin.

As the sun sets on the village, the sake begins to flow.

"The representatives [of the unlucky men] go to a house to receive the sacred fire for the battle," Akihiko Kadowaki explains.

"They take five 1,800 millilitre sake bottles and they receive double of that amount [in return]."

"Unless they drink all that sake, they can't receive the fire, so they become very drunk."

Once the flame is lit, the 42-year-olds carry it through the hilly streets of the village, loudly singing local songs.

The battle begins

When it arrives at the site, the men light a bonfire and then climb up to the top of the shrine, signalling the start of the attack.

It's a gentle start with the town's children — some carried on their parents' backs — swatting the shrine with their torches

But suddenly the mood changes.

Adult villagers begin the real battle, charging towards the 25 year-olds.

With just a thin pine branch to defend themselves and the shrine, their hair very quickly singes and their faces blacken.

Sorry, this video has expired Video: The Nozawa Onsen Fire Festival (ABC News)

The 42-year-olds at the top offer some advice for their younger counterparts down below.

"Do your best. Receive the sacred sake and protect the shrine," 42-year-old Yohei Kono shouts.

"When I was 25, I distracted myself with the force of the fire and by drinking. When I look back now, it was a great memory," he says.

An offering to the gods

After an hour of relentless attacking, everyone is exhausted and the battle is declared over.

The 42-year-olds climb down, and the 25-year-olds embrace one another, having survived the spectacular battle.

No one can really explain why it has to be so violent.

"[People get into it] because it's fun," Akihiko Kadowaki laughs.

"Everybody gets excited when they see fire."

Steve Sadler has come from Adelaide to hit the snow and check out this festival.

"This is crazy. This is amazing," he says.

The shrine and the toro lanterns are heaved together and burnt down, as locals clap and celebrate the completion of the festival for another year.

With the shrine now destroyed as an offering to the gods, good luck and health is supposed to come to the town as well as the unlucky men.

Locals will arrive the next morning to grill rice cakes known as mochi on the smouldering fire.

For the unlucky men, no doubt they will awaken with some battle scars and some sore heads from all the sake.

Credits

Reporting and photography: Jake Sturmer

Production and additional photography: Yumi Asada

Editing: Rebecca Armitage

Topics: community-and-multicultural-festivals, youth, religion-and-beliefs, japan

First posted