Every July 14th, the stone steps of the Nachi Taisha Shrine burn in flames for the annual Nachi Fire Festival. Locally known as Nachi-no-Ogi, this festival is a purification ritual that culminates in the burning of 12 portable sanctuaries whose design represents the waterfall. It is one of the most impressive and famous festivals in the region.

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Every year on July 14, at the Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine, Japan,
takes place the Nachi-no-Ogi Festival, a purification ritual with offerings, dance, and music. The festival celebrates the return of the deity living in the shrine to the Great Waterfall of Nachi (Nachi no Taki).

Shrine parishioners dressed in white fearlessly walk the shrine's stone steps carrying flaming torches weighing approximately 50kg
from the shrine to the sacred waterfall.

The flaming torches ritual is carried out to purify the route for the 12 portable "Ogi Mikoshi" shrines. The 12 Ogi Mikoshi (portable shrines decorated with fans) represent the deities of Nachi Falls.

They are carried from the main hall of Kumano Nachi Taisha to the falls. After visiting the Nachi Falls and being enshrined, the Ogi Mikoshi head back towards the Shrine, where they will remain until the ritual the following year.

Footage recorded by Frank Mirbach.