Abare Festival
abare festival japanese festival commonly known fire violence festival take place ushitsu noto peninsula dedicated yasaka shrine festival take place every year july first friday saturday month abare festival commonly referred fire violence festival visitor watch kiriko キリコ notos unique illuminated lantern float mikoshi みこし portable shrine carried street eat festival food hear taiko drum see many people dressed summer festival wear ゆかた kirikos mikoshis first blessed priest sake poured mouth men carry point onwards sake flow freely night long kiriko sponsored neighborhood within ushitsu usually carried local resident former resident festival held first friday saturday july every year previously july first noto kiriko festival held noto ishikawa july september abare festival dedicated yasaka shrine ushitsu kiriko showcased town street giant kiriko gathered pier huge bonfire set melody taiko drum gong flute around fire purpose festival hustle bravely violently name indicates said violently people behave god delight rampage represents enshrined susanoo mikoto known destructive deity first night friday festivity mikoshi kiriko make way street ushitsu village inside noto town finally gather front city hall weave around large bonfire resting top large pole group men rarely woman work together carry large wooden kiriko child sit atop playing drum flute men often carry kiriko close suspended bonfire suffer minor major burn falling spark child usually wear wet towel draped head protect spark second night saturday kirikos weave way around town main attraction wooden mikoshis carried men main street blessed men carrying mikoshi continually thrash ground grind asphalt street best break much possible passing different checkpoint stop pray receive blessing drink sake men throw mikoshi small bridge roughly meter tall small river run middle town men jump river bash mikoshi bridge concrete support beam splashing one another handling mikoshi way mean following divine hence rough handling actually manner prayer take mikoshi short way road second river throw mikoshi side road second river point bash mikoshi hard bit road attempt shatter top mikoshi second river bonfire lit shower spark flaming debris upon head attempt destroy mikoshi men vigorously splash one another protect fire men retrieve mikoshi river take yasaka shrine shinto shrine じんじゃ front shrine large bonfire ground repeatedly throw mikoshi retrieve afterwards believe properly destroyed mikoshi take gate shrine priest judge properly destroyed priest decline take mikoshi shrine men return throwing bonfire smashing upon ground returning inspected priest eventually priest accept mikoshi shrine happens twice first wooden mikoshi destroyed pm second despite name fire violence festival safe attend age men destroying mikoshi one danger physical harm abare festival originated around counteract violent epidemic raging noto ishikawa local people invited gozu tenno yasaka shrine kyoto held big religious ceremony pray calming epidemic big bee came somewhere stung people one another people stung soon cured epidemic delighted local people visited yasaka shrine carrying kiriko gion matsuri noto ishikawa list festival japan noto abare matsuri