Mt. Takao Firewalking Festival

Now that I've been home for nearly 2 weeks, it seems like the time I spent in Tokyo was ages ago. I've looked through pictures and read past blogs to keep the memories fresh, but it seems like maybe I was only there a couple of weeks instead of a couple of months.

I know I'll never forget the last Sunday Jody and I were in Japan. It was just a few days after the earthquake and tsunami, and before the nuclear meltdown really began. The mood seemed somber and sad, but the people of Japan held their heads high and carried on.

That last Sunday, Jody and I went to the Mt. Takao Hiwatari Matsuri, or firewalking festival. The hardcore mountain monks from the Yakuoin temple come down to the village for the yearly festival, leading a procession through the village and ending with a walk across the hot embers of a pine needle fire. I've read that the festival signifies all kinds of things - familial peace, elimination of of delusion, health, purity - and although I am not quite sure, I would guess that all of those things were on the minds of the Japanese people that day.