Nozawa Onsen Fire Festival

Almost every town and village in Japan has its own festival and many of them are quite bizarre. One of the more famous festivals is the Dosojin Fire Festival held every year in Nozawa Onsen on Jan 15th. Nozawa Onsen is a tiny village in the Japan Alps about two hours drive from where I live. It is otherwise famous for being a world class ski resort (the best I've been to in Japan) and its hotsprings. I went to the festival with a couple of friends earlier this week.
The festival is a centuries old tradition which is the only reason why this dangerous and violent event gets official sanction. Only men born in Nozawa onsen village are allowed to take part but a huge crowd of people, including many foreigners and tourists, spectate and it is shown on local TV. A wooden fort is constructed and then all the 42 year olds in the village sit atop of it. The 25 year olds of the village stand beneath it and defend from attack. These two ages are chosen because they have bad luck in Japan (apparently though I don't the origin of this). Then other men of the village attack the fort with burning sticks attempting to set it on fire. The 25 year olds defend it and put out any flames. The 42 year olds on top of the fort throw down wood to attack the fort with. At first it was pretty mild, babies and small children going first and ceremonially attacking. Afterwards, the intensity increased and it became more and more aggressive and violent. Overseeing all of this are volunteer fireman from the village. We could see adrenaline and primal instinct take over as the men attack with more vigour and the 25 year olds defend with more passion and less restraint. The attack on the fort lasted about an hour and a half. By the end the attackers were jabbing burning bundles of wood into the defenders without restraint and the crowd were getting restive. Only heavy handed crowd control by the volunteer firemen prevented a crush or stampede. Amazingly there were no serious injuries that I saw. Then at 10 o clock on the dot the attack was halted; the 25 year olds having successfully defended the wooden fort. The defenders cleared out of the fort in an orderly fashion and it was lit as a big bonfire, the men's aggression having subsided. At About 11pm all the Japanese spectators left almost at the same time, the craziness over for another year. We stayed on a while longer and had some drinks in a nearby pub afterwards.
It was a very entertaining evening and unlike anything I've ever seen before. I didn't feel very safe while watching it but I don't think I was particularly at risk of being burnt or injured. It is a fine example of Japanese style well organized chaos or perhaps one of these events that only takes place because it's a centuries old tradition. It takes place January 15th every year if you want to go next year. Otherwise I can definitely recommend Nozawa Onsen for its skiing.