Hiroshima Prefecture

Once you get through the usual New Year’s activities, there is one last thing to enjoy called the Tondo festival. The Tondo festival is part of ‘Koshagatsu,’ marking the traditional lunar new year. You will see gatherings in public parks, school grounds, and shrine courtyards where people gather around towering bonfires of bamboo. These bonfires are where people throw their ‘shimekazari,’ New Year’s ornaments that appear each December above the doors of homes and businesses. At shrine events, you may also see celebrants tossing on last year’s ‘hamaya’ arrows and other talismans, ridding themselves of the last traces of the previous year. Many Tondo are relatively small local affairs and can be a great way to interact with your neighbors. The fires, often lit by either local firemen or occasionally by children (assisted by adults) bearing long torches. The results can be pretty dramatic as the bamboo kindles quickly, and the flames rapidly rise into the air with loud pops and small explosions caused by the hollow stems of the bamboo. These noises can also send children squealing behind the nearest adult. As a fun fact, it said that if you burn your first letter of the year in the…