At Toba’s fire festival, two giant burning towers become the focus of a fierce village contest, as men hurl themselves at the flames to wrench out the sacred trees hidden within and read the fortunes of the year ahead.
Travel
Takisanji Oni Matsuri
At Takisanji Oni Matsuri, a fire ritual of startling theatrical force is performed not for spectacle alone but for purification – a prayer in flame for peace, protection, and a good harvest.
Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Man Festival)
Held in Inazawa and rooted in rites once performed to drive off plague, the Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri draws thousands of nearly naked men into a punishing crush of cold, contact, and purification.
The Temples of Angkor
Spread across a vast archaeological landscape near Siem Reap, the temples of Angkor preserve the stone afterlife of the Khmer Empire at a scale that still feels imperial – immense, intricate, and half reclaimed by the forest.