Sunday May 27, 2012

Fire festival

Picture of the Day ( 12 )

Fire festival
PHOTO BY STANLEY CHOW

A monk prepares the fire for the annual Takao-san Dai-hiwatari (walk on fire) festival at the foot of Mt Takao.

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12 Comments

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  • 0

    suebe36d

    Reduce carbon footprint especially in pomp, pageantry & mumbo jumbo

  • 0

    some14some

    from green emissions to orange ?!

  • 0

    Sarge

    Looks like he's trying to put it out.

  • 0

    neverknow2

    Looks like he's trying to put it out.

    Looks like he's stuck 5000 years in the past.

  • 0

    Sarge

    neverknow2 - That's called tradition.

  • 0

    paulinusa

    "walk on fire"? Looks more like being burned at the stake.

  • 0

    BurakuminDes

    These fire-walkers must be nuts! I'd imagine they'd be so off their faces on sake before they do it though, that they wouldn't fell a thing! Definitely a good tourist money-spinner though...

  • 0

    rokudenashi

    I've seen and participated in similar fire walks in the past. This is still early in the day. They will let the fire burn all the way down to the coals, then rake them out and then the monks and others will walk across the coals. It's a short walk and your feet move quickly so you never feel a thing. The monk in the photo is probably just throwing water on any embers that fly out of the fire. While these bonfires of purification are traditional, it certainly shows an utter disregard for the "natural preservation" that most of these religious groups claim to value so highly.

  • 0

    Apsara

    Reduce carbon footprint especially in pomp, pageantry & mumbo jumbo

    So you would cancel all festivals if you were in charge? Thank goodness you're not, because the world would become a very boring place if you were.

    And to the people who think that anyone does firewalking through 3m+ high flames, no. The guy is preparing the fire, as it says in the caption. They walk across the embers much later, as explained above.

  • 0

    suebe36d

    Apsara, nature's wonders are boundless. Human resources focused on ameliorating & countering nature's destructive energies would keep us from boredom.

  • 0

    spankmaster5000

    i agree with suebe36d.is this not 2010?

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