Japanese Fire Festival for Mt. Fuji

At the foot of Mt. Fuji a fire festival is held by the town of Fujiyoshida in the hopes of placating the goddess of the mountain and keep Fuji-san from erupting for one more year.

The festival goes back 500 years but in its origins it stretches back to the fabled Age of Gods period of Japan. The grandson of the sun goddess was sent down to rule and he took to wife the daughter of a mountain goddess. She became pregnant in one night which made her husband suspicious. She took offense to this and built a hut with no door. She told her doubting her husband she would set it on fire and give birth to his children whom being divine would not be harmed. She went inside setting it on fire and proceed to give birth to 3 children who were unharmed thus proving her innocence.

The torches lit at Fujiyoshida symbolize the fire she lit to prove her innocence.

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