Nozawa Onsen Fire Festival

Last Updated on January 20, 2025

Event Overview

The Dosojin Festival, affectionately known nationwide as “Dondo Yaki” is an ancient fire festival held annually in Nozawa Onsen on the first day of the New Year.

During this festival, decorations from the previous year, including those for the New Year, are ceremoniously burned.

While the exact origins of the festival remain uncertain, inscriptions on the Dosojin monument and records from the Kono family suggest the festival was already celebrated on a grand scale in the late Edo period.

Dosojin is a revered deity in Japanese folk belief, widely worshipped for protection against disasters and for blessings of fertility and child growth. Throughout the country, particularly in regions from Chubu to Kanto, stone statues of Dosojin are erected at village boundaries and honored with fire festivals on New Year’s Day.

In Nagano Prefecture’s Hokushin region, a unique tradition has evolved where the Dosojin festival involves a symbolic battle over fire, celebrating the birth of the first child, warding off misfortune, and fostering harmonious relationships within the community.

Historically, two separate Dosojin festivals were held in Nozawa Onsen – one at Sakakiya Ryokan in Yokochi (“Kami no Dorokushin”) and another at the Terayu riverbed (“Shimo no Dorokushin”), however in 1912, to mitigate fire risks, the police mandated a 100-meter safety distance from dwellings, leading to the merger of the two festivals at Babanohara.

To this day, the core elements of the festival remain the same, with the magnificent shrine building, the exquisite first lanterns, the meticulously crafted wooden Dosojin statues, and the competitive yet harmonious spirit of the entire village further enhancing the festival’s grandeur.

Today, the Nozawa Onsen Dosojin Festival is known as a an exceptional folk event, with its significance recognized on December 13, 1993, when it was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan.

Order of Events

19:00 – The source of the fire is started from a flint that has been passed down for generations, while singing songs about the Dosojin and consuming sacred sake.

20:00 – A torchlight procession takes place as the flame is transported by a large torch.

20:30 – The fire festival battle begins, with two teams, one trying to burn the shrine with lit torches and the other team trying to protect the shrine.

22:00 – The shrine building is set alight by both teams after an hour and a half of battle, with it continuing to burn into the night.

The next day, as the shrine building is still burning, many locals gather to eat roasted mochi (rice cakes) by the fire as it is believed that eating mochi here will help avoid catching colds and live a healthy year.

Venue Information

Location: Nozawa Onsen

Dates: 15th January 2026

Opening Times: 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Entry Cost

Free.

Nearest Station

Kamisakai Station

Iiyama Line