Gotanda Hashira Matsuri (Pillar Fire Festival)

About

On August 14, Ojinomori Park in the Gotanda district of Yawatahama holds a fire festival. A basket woven from hemp stalks sits atop a pillar about 20 meters tall, and participants throw burning torches up from below to set it alight. By custom they keep at it night after night if needed until it catches, and the fireballs streaking into the dark sky make an eerie, beautiful sight. The costumes evoke the Warring States period and are dyed by hand, one at a time, by a local dye works. Women of the preservation society also dance to the local songs Gotanda Kouta and Hashira Matsuri Ondo. The festival is said to have begun to comfort the spirit of a mountain ascetic accidentally shot by his own side during the Warring States era. It became an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Ehime Prefecture in 1965 (Showa 40) and is one of Ehime's 50 best festivals.

Sources

• OfficialEhime Prefecture (Iyokannet) www.iyokannet.jp

Last checked: Oct 11, 2026. Event information is based on official announcements, but changes may not always be reflected here. Please check each official website for accurate details.

Other events this month

• Imabari Onmaku Festival
• Matsuyama Yakyuken Odori (Baseball Dance Festival)
• Mori no Kuni Summer Festival