The incomplete character for "dai" (large) is created with only six ignition sites lit during the Gozan no Okuribi bonfire festival held in the rain, in the city of Kyoto shortly after 8 p.m. on Aug. 16, 2021. (Mainichi/Ryoichi Mochizuki)

       KYOTO -- The Gozan no Okuribi bonfire festival took place on the evening of Aug. 16 in the hills surrounding this western Japan city with less bonfire displays for the second consecutive year to avoid crowds of spectators gathering as part of coronavirus countermeasures.

       During the traditional event to send off the spirits of ancestors who revisit during the Obon holiday, mountains were lit using reduced numbers of ignition sites, preventing flames from forming the shape of kanji characters like in usual years.

       Around 8 p.m. on the day, six ignition sites including the tips of the character "dai" (large) were lit on the hillside of Mount Nyoigatake in Kyoto's Higashiyama district. After this, the characters for "myoho" (meaning "mystery" or "the law of Buddha"), a depiction of a boat, a second character meaning "large," and a depiction of a Shinto torii gate, in that order, were lit up in one or two spots each.

       A 62-year-old man from the city's Sakyo Ward, who was looking up at Mount Nyoigatake, said, "I'm scared that the incomplete characters will become a familiar landscape. I've come to realize that I have to think of what to do in order to help bring the coronavirus pandemic under control."

       (Japanese original by Kanae Soejima, Kyoto Bureau)

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