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Toba Fire Festival

Toba-no-Hi-matsuri, a fire festival held annually at Toba Shinmeisha, a Shinto shrine in Nishio, Japan.

The festival begins with men walking from the shrine to the sea, and standing in the ocean wearing only loincloths as part of a purification ritual.

The celebration culminates with the burning of torches built from bamboo and pampas grass. The burning of the torches allows the locals to divine the year’s weather and harvest. Ben Weller is a photographer in Nagoya, Japan.

Filename: Toba Fire Festival
Copyright: Ben Weller
Image Size: 6016x4016 / 13.7MB; asia asian asians bamboo burning celebration ceremony culture custom environment farm farmer festival fire food grass harvest japan japanese land loincloths matsuri men nature nishio ocean pampas purification ritual rural sea shinto shrine smoke toba torch tradition traditional water weather photographer nagoya japan
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Toba-no-Hi-matsuri, a fire festival held annually at Toba Shinmeisha, a Shinto shrine in Nishio, Japan. <br />
<br />
The festival begins with men walking from the shrine to the sea, and standing in the ocean wearing only loincloths as part of a purification ritual.<br />
<br />
The celebration culminates with the burning of torches built from bamboo and pampas grass. The burning of the torches allows the locals to divine the year’s weather and harvest. Ben Weller is a photographer in Nagoya, Japan.