I went to a festival in Mikawa-Toba, which is south-west from Okazaki, on the ocean. On the way there, I passed through what is now my favorite named station, こどもの国, or Children’s Land. Apparently there are more than a few こどもの国s, though.

Anyways, the fire festival. (A description is Here
First, a bunch of guys ran into the ocean to wash a pole they carried from the shrine.

The 4 guys in the middle are naked, I put some Laughing Man logos over the sensitive areas…

After being in the ocean, the guys walked towards the fire to get warm. They went through a ceremonial gate, so they didn’t trample the crowd here.

For some reason the guy in the middle is complaining that it is too hot there…

The main event of the fire festival: These torches are set on fire, and the team that can extract the branch in the middle first is the winner.

The guys are getting warm around a fire, something they will have more than enough of later.

And then the main show. There is a guy in the middle shaking the branches to get the torch to burn faster. A teammate is throwing water on him to keep him cool. There are lots of cameras, so a fair number of my pictures are illuminated by other people’s flashes, like this one here.

All of the pictures are in Ipernity