Wakakusayama Yamayaki is a traditional annual event held on Mount Wakakusa, at the eastern edge of Nara Park in Nara City, Nara Prefecture. During this dramatic festival, the grass covering the entire mountainside is set ablaze, creating a spectacular sea of flames that illuminates the winter night sky. The event is a long-standing tradition that heralds the arrival of spring in the ancient capital of Nara.
Mount Wakakusa rises to an elevation of 342 meters and covers approximately 33 hectares. Normally a gentle, grassy hill overlooking Nara, it becomes an extraordinary spectacle during the festival, as fire sweeps across its slopes and transforms the mountain into a glowing wall of flames. The scale and intensity of the scene make this one of Nara’s most striking annual events.
The festival is held on the fourth Saturday of January each year. From the afternoon, a variety of events and ceremonies take place at the foot of the mountain, building anticipation for the main attraction.
Just before the grass-burning ceremony begins, a spectacular fireworks display lights up the clear winter sky. The colorful bursts of light provide a brilliant prelude to the mountain blaze, creating a memorable evening that combines traditional ceremony, fireworks, and the dramatic sight of a mountainside engulfed in fire.
The main burning typically gets underway at around 6 p.m. The mountain usually becomes fully ablaze within approximately 30 minutes to an hour after the fire is started, although the timing and duration can vary from year to year.
The tradition of burning Mount Wakakusa is believed to date back to before the Edo period (1603–1868). In earlier times, local people frequently set fire to the mountain to appease the spirits believed to rest at Uguisuzuka Kofun, an ancient burial mound located near the summit. The tomb is situated on the third tier of the mountain and has long been associated with beliefs concerning the spirits of the dead.
A superstition eventually spread that failing to burn the mountain once a year would bring misfortune. This belief contributed to the increasing frequency of the fires. Toward the end of the Edo period, the practice became more formally supervised, with representatives of Todaiji Temple, Kofukuji Temple, and the Nara magistrate’s office attending the ceremony. The ritual included prayers to pacify the spirits associated with Uguisuzuka Kofun.
The event became an officially organized ceremony during the Meiji period (1868–1912), and the practice of holding it at night began in the latter half of that era. Today, Wakakusayama Yamayaki continues as a distinctive winter tradition, preserving the historical beliefs and customs of Nara while offering visitors an unforgettable spectacle of fire and light.
Wakakusayama Yamayaki brings together ancient spiritual beliefs, local history, fireworks, and the dramatic beauty of fire against a winter sky. For visitors to Nara, it offers a rare opportunity to experience a living tradition that has been passed down through generations, set against the historic landscape of Nara Park and its surrounding temples and shrines.
10 min. by bus from JR/Kintetsu Nara Stn. to Kasuga-taisha Honden → 5 min. walk from Kasuga-taisha Honden bus stop to the foot of the mountain
8 min. by bus from JR/Kintetsu Nara Stn. to Omotesando, Kasuga-taisha Shrine → 10 min. walk to the foot of the mountain.
Nara Okuyama Driveway “Shin-Wakakakusa Course