For one night each year, the Oyama Senmaida terraced fields are lit by fire. It was tonight and today I got to help with the 200 students who came from Tokyo to help with the experience.
Many people spent time in the past weeks preparing the materials – chopping bamboo, counting wicks, cleaning parts, and filling fuel tanks. Today we finished up that work and delivered everything to the staging areas before the kids arrived.
I was in charge of D-gumi, a class of 19 first year high schoolers. They were a ragtag bunch who ran out of steam before we were done. Some side-eye from the foreigner helped to light a fire but their enthusiasm was low today.
After slogging along assembling and fuelling the torches in the tanada, they eventually lit them and ran off to admire their work. It looked great. As the sun set, the LED lanterns add to the sparkle. It is a beautiful spectacle.
