For your inner pyromaniac.

I introduced Setsubun in my last post, but there's one more annual February 3rd event that I need to introduce!

Giant bonfires galore! Even if it's freezing outside, standing near one of these will warm you up in no time whatsoever.

In the Futomi (太海) area of Kamogawa, each year there is a tradition called 越年 (おとし). Basically the locals build 5 giant bundles of bamboo a different points along the beach. These things are between 15-20 feet tall....and then at around 6pm, the locals light them on fire, along with New Year's decorations, etc. to burn away the bad luck.

Spot the little round things to the bottom right?

I was trying to get a better shot of the burning daruma dolls, which are the round things to the bottom right. But it was really HOT! It must have been below freezing that night, but we were sweating because well, it was a pretty awesome bonfire.

Fish straight from the fire!

Afterwards, the locals - many of them fishermen! - randomly passed out fried fish freshly cooked in the mini fires next to the giant bonfires. It was a really nice way to close out the night, chatting with the friendly locals over toasty (and really tasty!) fish.

A little bit more about Futomi's Otoshi Festival in Japanese:
http://www.kamonavi.jp/ja/mame/mame_000025.html

This year's Otoshi will be at Futomi Beach - fires are scheduled to be lit at 6pm! If you're in the Southern Chiba area, this is too awesome of an event to miss out on.