Every Oct. 22 the ancient city hosts a spectacle of fire, smoke and noise

Visitors to Kyoto will find themselves in for quite a treat if they are in the city on Oct. 22 because two great festivals are held that day.

At noon the Jidai Matsuri (Festival of Ages) is held in central Kyoto. It’s a two-hour long procession depicting the various fashions and famous people from Kyoto’s long history. In the evening, the place to go is up to the mountain temple of Mt. Kurama to see the Kurama-no-Himatsuri — the Fire Festival.

The whole mountaintop looks like it’s on fire from the constant stream of torch-bearing participants going to and fro from the temple. The torches range in size from simple handheld torches to gargantuan ones that require three to four people to carry.

The festival’s origins go back over a thousand years to the late 8th century when the Emperor would send torch bearers from his palace all the way up to the temple. The purpose of this ancient rite is to guide the spirits of departed souls and gods along their way through the human world by the light of pine torches.

For the families around the temple this is a time to set out their heirlooms for display. Visitors can see suits of samurai armor, colorful folding screens, and exquisite ceramic dishes.

The festival begins with young boys in kimonos carrying small pine torches.

After them come teenage boys carrying slightly larger ones together in groups of two or three. Older boys and men dressed in loincloths, colorful half-shirts and headbands carry even larger torches.

Then around 8 p.m. come the really big torches — measuring five to six meters in length — which sometimes requires four stout men to carry.

As fire and smoke fill the air, the torch bearers chant sai-rei, sai-ryo! which means simply “festival, good festival!” Taiko drummers help to get the festivities “fired” up with a rhythmic booming of Taiko drums accompanied by the jangling clangor of metal being beaten to a lively beat.

Even for visitors, things can get a little hectic with all this fire about. Sometimes these large torches are turned around and visitors have to move out of the way or duck to avoid being singed by huge flames. Burning braziers on tripods dot the way along the festival route and the unwary can accidentally bump into these sending a cascade of blazing sparks all around.

The Kurama-no-Himatsuri is an exciting and lively festival with just a hint of danger to make it interesting. It’s definitely worth seeing even with the throngs of people and the smell of smoke that will cling to your clothes.