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Historical background
Historical background
The Shoreisai Festival began over 1,300 years ago, based on a local legend. According to the story, a fire demon named Soranki brought flames, sickness, and famine to the region, causing great suffering.Unable to stop the demon, the people turned to Prince Hachiko, founder of the sacred Dewa Sanzan mountains. He instructed them to build a large straw figure resembling the demon and burn it in a public ritual.When the effigy was burned, the real demon disappeared. To remember this victory and protect the town from future harm, people began holding the burning ceremony every year.
Characteristics
Characteristics
The Shoreisai Festival is a major New Year's event held every December 31st on top of Mount Haguro in Yamagata. It's one of Japan's oldest and most important fire festivals. The festival is the big public ending to a secret 100-day winter training called the "Winter Retreat," done by mountain priests called Yamabushi. The main people in the ceremony are special priests called Matsu-Hijiri. They come down from the mountains after spending the winter alone, praying to the grain goddess for a good harvest.
The festival centers on fire, prayers, and purification rituals. It features a dramatic cycle where the demon Soranki is slain, symbolically reborn, and finally burned in the form of giant straw figures called Otaimatsu. This ceremony is both a personal spiritual refreshment for the priests and an impressive public event. It combines old farming customs, reverence for the mountain, and a shared prayer for good fortune in the new year.
To know more
To know more
The Shoreisai Festival in 2024 (Japanese only)
The history of Shoreisai Festival (Japanese only)
The Shoreisai Festival in 2019 (Japanese with English subtitle)
Current activities
The Shoreisai Festival takes place on December 31st. Key events include:
3pm: Slaying of the Soranki Demon
10:45pm: Start of the Otaimatsu-hiki Ritual
How to access
Touge-7 Haguromachi Touge, Tsuruoka-shi, Yamagata-ken 997-0211
By Car: Use the ¥400 toll road to the top. Arrive by 2:30pm for the start or 7pm for the main events. Parking is available, with a shuttle from the third lot if needed.
By Public Transport: Take a bus from Tsuruoka Station or S-Mall (check specific times). Return buses leave the mountain at 1am and 7am.
Direct Voice from Kiki Tung
Direct Voice from Kiki Tung
My New Year began not with a countdown, but with a collective heave against the winter cold. At the Shoreisai festival, strangers and friends—some who had journeyed from across the world, others who had stumbled upon it by chance—became a single community, wrapped in thin cloth and united by a rope. Together, we pulled a giant demon toward its pyre.
This fiery ritual was more than spectacle; it was the living conclusion to a 100-day yamabushi training, the Fuyu-no-mine. In that moment, we weren't just burning an effigy. We were participants in the ancient Gen tradition—tapping into the supernatural power forged through discipline and testing which ascetic had gained greater strength.
As the flames roared, the bitter cold melted away, replaced by a profound, shared warmth. It was a visceral lesson: that new beginnings are not just announced, but are actively forged. They are built through collective effort, the courage to engage deeply with tradition, and the willingness to stand together in the dark before stepping into the light of a new year.
References
Isedewa. (2021, March 25). Dewa Sanzan story: Fuyu no mine, Shoureisai-hen [Dewa Sanzan story: Winter peak, Shoureisai edition] [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2e4q2MuyNI
Maniac Japan Travel. (2020, January 3). Yamagata Tsuruoka Dewa Sanzan Jinja no Shoureisai 2019-2020 [Yamagata Tsuruoka Shoureisai of Dewa Sanzan Shrine 2019-2020] [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtzbQyY9s6I
MIYABE FILM OFFICE. (2025, April 16). Dewa Sanzan Jinja Shoureisai daijesuto [Dewa Sanzan Shrine Shoureisai digest] [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF8rcmdRWVU
Shoureisai Hozonkai [Shoureisai Preservation Society]. (n.d.). Kuni no juyo mukei minzoku bunkazai: Shoureisai no otaimatsu gyoji [National important intangible folk cultural property: The great torch event of Shoureisai]. http://shoureisai-hozonkai.com/
Yamabushi, T. B.-. K. (2024, January 1). Happy New Years 2024 from a very cold Yamagata mountaintop. Kiwi Yamabushi. https://www.kiwiyamabushi.com/p/happy-new-years-2024-from-a-ver
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