Religious · Kansai
Oto Matsuri Fire Festival
御燈祭
A 1,400-year-old fire festival in which white-clad men race down Kamikura Shrine's 538 stone steps carrying burning torches.
Confirmed dates
- Dates
- Sat 06 Feb 2027
- Date status
- Confirmed by the organiser or an official tourism source
- Venue
- Kamikura Shrine, Shingu
- City
- Shingu
- Prefecture
- Wakayama
- Region
- Kansai
- Category
- Religious
- When it runs
- 6 February every year
- Checked
- Fri 23 Oct 2026 against the official source
About this event
The Oto Matsuri is held every 6 February at Kamikura Shrine in Shingu, a rite with a history of more than 1,400 years in which some 2,000 men in white, called noboriko, climb the shrine's steep stone steps with pine torches and then descend in a river of fire. The festival is a national important intangible folk cultural property; women watch from below, as the shrine approach is men-only during the rite.
Booking
Booked around the event: hotels, passes, transfers and eSIM. Booking links for this event are added after the product checks pass.
Official source: https://en.japantravel.com/events/wakayama-tanabe-city?from=2024-07-23&. Dates checked Fri 23 Oct 2026.