Jodi Webb, Fire and Snow in Nozawa Onsen (PEOPLE 2024)

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www.glimmerphotography.com.au

Each year, villagers hold a Fire Festival in five locations around Japan. The men born in the 'bad years' must all participate and there are days of preparing massive pyres, followed by the erection of totem poles on the final night. After an evening of drinking, the men from different groups in town carry the totems through the village while drinking Sake out of big drums and erect the totems around the pyres. Once all the totems are erected, one of the groups sits on top of the pyre for 3 hours continuing to drink and sing while there is a mock battle below with men trying to light the pyre. Eventually the men descend and the pyre is lit. I was fortunate to witness the whole ceremony through the snowy evening.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.