Vivinavi : Tochigi : (Japan) Tochigi

The Ishisonzan Bonten Festival, which conveys primitive sun worship, is an event held early in the morning on August 14, the day of the moonlate Bon Festival. It is designated as a Tochigi Prefecture Intangible Folk Cultural Asset because of the unique form of the Bonten dedicated to it, which is a valuable folk cultural asset, and because it strongly preserves the Ishisonzan beliefs of the Shinto/Buddhist syncretism period. On the day of the ceremony, after a goma offering and prayers for safety by the priest of Chidari-ji Temple at the Fudo Hall at the foot of the mountain ，, young men dressed in white purify their bodies and minds, and at 4:00 a.m., to the signal of the mountain priests, the 15-meter tall sacred pillar （ and cedar logs ） and the 250 or so Brahma statues （ made at the end of July ） are carried up Mt. At sunrise, they are launched at the top of the mountain and dedicated to the inner shrine of Ishison-jinja Shrine.