The "Ohitaki-sai" (Fire-Burning Festival)—an autumn event at Mukō Shrine (in Mukō-chō, Mukō City, Kyoto Prefecture) that involves burning *gomagi* (ritual wooden sticks) inscribed with wishes—took place on October 11, 2026. Approximately 100 parishioners and visitors gathered to offer prayers as flames rose toward the clear blue sky.
The ritual centers on entrusting one's wishes to a sacred fire in the hope that they will be granted. The *gomagi*—wooden sticks about 30 centimeters long, known as *hitaki-gushi*—were inscribed with various personal wishes, such as "success in examinations" or "safety and well-being for the family," and were stacked in a circle in a corner of the shrine grounds.
Around 2:30 p.m., Shinto priests brought fire from the main shrine building and ignited the *gomagi*. Attendees watched in silence as the flames spread, accompanied by a crackling sound.
A local woman in her eighties, who stayed until the *gomagi* had burned away—a process that took about 15 minutes—remarked, "I come here every year for my first shrine visit of the New Year, but this was my first time seeing this event. I prayed for the health of my family."
