The fire ceremony We call it Chihara no Tondo or the fire in Chihara. So it is the fire of Chihara village. It is held in the evening of January 14th, villagers prepare two big straw barrels, one is male and another is female.
People think to pass through between two straw barell firing is to keep health.
They want to take back burned pine stalk to home, it will be the charm to avoid fire. Our principal's parent house is decorating the stalk on the ceiling in the entrance room. The fire in Chihara is keeping for a long time , people living near the village come to see and join the ceremony. I hear that the ceremony is related to pray ancestors. After a long time, the ceremony may be changed to other meaning, for example to drive demons and devils out of the village and to burn ritual decorations in the new year days, I'm not sure.