August 16, 2023 : Kyoto Sending Bonfires of Five Mountains 2023
© 安岡喜晴 (JoyShine)
Today we went to Demachiyanagi to see the Sending Bonfires of Five Mountains (Gozan-no-Okuribi).
We met at a cafe near Okazaki Road and soon found out that there was no direct bus service to Demachiyanagi,
so we decided to take a bus to Ginkakuji Temple, get off at Ginkakuji-mae, and walk to Demachiyanagi.
On the way, we stopped at a ramen restaurant, but the amount of bean sprouts was too much for us to finish,
so we stopped eating halfway through and left the restaurant.
After leaving the restaurant and walking for a while, we saw the Kyoto University campus.
After walking along the campus road for a while, we came to the area where my grandma used to live.
Long ago, when I was a child, I used to watch Gozan-no-Okuribi from the balcony of my grandma's apartment.
To beat the heat, we decided to go to a cafe in front of the station and rest until the festival started.
There was still an hour and a half before the bonfire started.
I ordered a hot coffee and she ordered an iced cafe au lait.
I didn't feel comfortable in the cafe because three clerks were looking at us all the time as if they were watching us,
so I thought it would be nice if they put a screen there.
We left the cafe around 7:30. The event was scheduled to start at 8:00, so we had to get a good seat before then.
From the cafe we walked to the Kamo Ohashi Bridge.
There were many people on the sidewalks along the way, and the police were controlling the crowd.
We crossed the Kamo Ohashi Bridge and walked out to the bank of the Kamo River.
Then we went under the Kamo Ohashi Bridge to a place called Kamo River Delta.
There we waited for the ignition.
When the ignition started, I was moved to see the character of Dai was lit up on the mountain.
It reminded me of the scene I used to see from the balcony of my grandma's apartment when I was a child.
(Watch Movie)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSxS13xnuXU
After a while, walking north along the Kamo River, we found a place where we could see it even more clearly.
I asked a guard on the riverbank where we could see other characters, and he told me that if we walked north from here, we might be able to see them.
On the way, an English-speaking foreign visitor to Japan asked me, "Do you speak English?" and I said, "Yes."
Then he continued, "Where can I see the second fire?", I said, "I have no idea, but a man on the riverbank said we can see it ahead this way,
but a woman on the riverbank said we may not be able to see it," I said, then he said, "Why can't we see it?", and I said I have no idea.
We walked for a while and decided to turn back because we were not sure if we could see it while it was still lit and many people were turning back on the way.
We turned back and walked up the slope by the Aoi-bashi Bridge, and when we came out at the Aoi-bashi Bridge,
we saw a lot of flames drawing a character on the mountain to the north.
That must have been the character we wanted to see when we walked north!
We were lucky to see it by chance!
After that, we walked down the street next to Shimogamo Shrine and came out at Demachiyanagi.
There was a nostalgic Lotteria, so we decided to go in and cool off.
I remembered ordering something at this Lotteria with Korean friends more than 10 years ago.
After leaving the Lotteria, we walked to Kamo Ohashi Bridge.
We bought a soda at a convenience store near the bridge and walked along Imadegawa Street to Imadegawa subway station,
then we took the train to Shijo subway station and walked home along Shijo Street.