VISIT KANAZAWA, JAPAN - Official Travel Guide

At the annual "Aizen Fire Festival" held at Eian-ji Temple, a temple associated with the Maeda family, you can have the precious experience of dressing up as a Yamabushi and participating in a Yamabushi procession and outdoor goma prayer with Shugenja, who have attained enlightenment through severe ascetic practices.

After the Buddhist service, visitors will walk barefoot over the hot ashes of the gomadan while chanting the mantra, "hiwatari," which will help them feel closer to nature and the gods and Buddha, and give them a chance to reflect on themselves.

Contents of Experience

June 1 (Saturday) 9:00-11:00 Preliminary meeting

   Costume fitting, preliminary inspection of venue, etc.　

June 2(Sunday)  9:00-13:30 Aizen Fire Festival

　Costume change, Yamabushi procession (approx. 40 min.), Aizen Fire Festival (approx. 1.5 hrs.), Lunch

Eian-ji Temple

Eian-ji Temple is a separate head temple of the Daigo school of the Shingon sect, located on a small mountain overlooking downtown Kanazawa. The 10-meter high statue of Aizenmyoo is one of the tallest in Japan.

Yamabushi procession

The Yamabushi procession moves in two lines around the temple and within the temple grounds, blowing conch shells and chanting Buddhist sermons in front of the Jizo Hall and Benten Hall. The public participants in Yamabushi attire walk after the Yamabushi, including the predecessors carrying tin cans, Yamabushi holding wooden tags announcing the Shiba Daima Goma Kuyo, Yamabushi with swords, axes, and bows, and Yamabushi carrying boxes of wish literature. They enter the plaza where the fire festival will be held with Eianji temple's chief priest, who is the Aizen Fire Festival's leader.

Aizen Fire Festival

On the first Sunday of June every year, a grand goma prayer is held with Aizen Myoo, the deity of love fulfillment, marriage, and conjugal harmony, as the main deity. A wish is written on a piece of gomagi, incantations are chanted, and the gomagi is burned.

Fire-walking

While chanting the mantra, participants walk barefoot across the fire, which is still burning, to remove past bad luck and to bring new good fortune and happiness.