The event that they put fire the herbs which cover Mt. Wakakusa(342m),
located in Nara city, was held on January 28.
It is called Yamayaki in Japanese.
It started with some fireworks which are hardly seen in winter here in Japan.
It was far away from where I was, so the sound of fireworks reached me slightly later than the works.
When I lived closer to the mountain, central city in Nara, it used to be held on January 15, the end of the term of marking New Year. I think that it was reasonable because many New Year ornaments made of straws which were taken off were burned together.
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| New Year's ornament called shimenawa |
This event, Yamayaki, began in ancient days, more than 1,000 years ago.
Later, after some interval, when it restarted they said several theories about the origin of this custom; to set a boundary for property of temples , to settle down the souls of ancient tomb on the mountain and so on.
Either way, as consequence the mountain comes to have its rejuvenation, and shows a feature fitting the name Mt. Wakakusa(若草 若＝youth 草＝herb) shortly after this event.
And above all, I like to see burning mountain under proper security.
Fire, as primitive element ,let people be evocative somehow and brings sacramental feeling.
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taken on New Year's day in a shrine |
みんなみの嶺岡山の焼くる火のこよひも赤く見えにけるかも 古泉千樫
Ah, Flames
that is set ablaze
on the Mt. Mineoka
at the South
are seen tonight brightly again
Chikashi raised in Chiba prefecture and later he went to Tokyo and with other members contributed to establish "Araragi school"(アララギ派）which became to be the main stream of genre of tanka during the last hundred years.
In this tanka, young Chikashi is gazing at the flame on the mountain which seems to be a boundary between Chiba and Tokyo, and sings as a tanka with orthodox method for expressing his emotion not subjectively but with particles for exclamation.
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| another fire in my room |
