Gozan no Okuribi

This year’s Okuribi (Sending-Off Fires) ceremony was held without incident.
On 13 August, we welcomed the spirits of our ancestors into our homes, and on the night of the 16th, we sent them back to the afterlife with the Okuribi ceremony.
Since ancient times, the Japanese have revered mountains as sacred places, and we believed that after death, our souls would ascend to the mountains and reside there.
The Sending-Off Fires also serve to comfort the souls of those who died in war, making them a prayer for peace.
In the past, the Sending-Off Fires were held separately on five mountains around Kyoto, but since 1963, they have been lit in sequence. Among them, the Daimonji (meaning large or great) on Mount Nyoi, known as the Mount Daimonji, is particularly beautiful and has become a symbol of summer in Kyoto.