Omizu Okuri: A Torchlit Water-Sending Rite in Wakasa

In the hills behind Obama, a small city on Wakasa Bay in Fukui Prefecture, stands a temple called Jinguji. Every year on March 2, Jinguji holds Omizu Okuri, the water-sending rite. It is the opening act of a ritual that finishes ten days later and 130 kilometres away: on March 12, the great Omizu Tori water-drawing ceremony takes place at Nigatsudo hall of Todaiji temple in Nara. What Obama sends, Nara receives. The torch procession that carries the rite covers about two kilometres from Jinguji to a pool in the river called Unose, and it moves entirely after dark.

A River of Fire in the Winter Night

By late afternoon the temple grounds fill with people holding hand torches. Participants write a wish on the torch and wait quietly for the rites inside the hall to finish. During the Dattan rite, a huge torch is swung inside the building, throwing sparks and washing the walls in red light. A large goma fire is then lit in front of the main hall, and from it the flame passes to one hand torch after another. When the procession finally moves, the cedar-lined approach becomes a ribbon of fire, the night air thick with the smell of pine resin and the crackle of burning wood. Heat presses against your face while the cold of the mountain valley stays at your back. That contrast is the physical memory most visitors take home.

The Rite at Unose

The destination is Unose, a deep pool on the upper reaches of the Onyu River. Torches are planted along the two-kilometre route, so if your own flame goes out you can simply borrow fire from one of them. At Unose a goma fire is built on the riverbank. After the priests chant, water from a bamboo tube is poured into the current. Tradition holds that this water travels underground for ten days and rises in the Wakasai well beneath Nigatsudo in Nara, ready to be drawn on March 12. The ceremony ends around 9 at night, and the quiet of the water once the flames die down is startling after so much noise and heat.

A Promise Roughly 1,300 Years Old

The origin story goes back to the founding era of Todaiji. When the monk Jitchu began the rites that pray for peace in the world, the deity Onyu Myojin of Wakasa arrived late because he had been out fishing. By way of apology, he promised to send water from Wakasa for the offering to Kannon. At that moment two cormorants, one white and one black, flew out from beneath Nigatsudo and a spring welled up where they had been. That spring is the Wakasai, and the name Unose, meaning cormorant shallows, comes from the same tale. For something like 1,300 years the promise has been kept every March 2.

Tips for Visiting

You can join the procession by offering a hand torch. The offering is 2,500 yen per torch, reserved in advance by telephone through the Wakasa Obama tourist information office, and paid in cash on the day. Torches are handed out at Jinguji from around 6 in the evening. Nights in early March in this valley are genuinely cold, so bring a thick coat, gloves and shoes you can walk in. Sparks fly during the procession, and the organisers openly advise wearing clothes you would not mind putting a hole in. Even if you are only watching, the road toward Unose is poorly lit, so a small torch or headlamp is worth carrying.

Getting There

Paid shuttle buses run from JR Obama Station to Jinguji, costing 1,000 yen from the station and 500 yen from the Reinan regional office. The return service leaves from a pocket park near Unose after 9:30 at night. Jinguji has no visitor car park, so public transport and the shuttle are the intended way to attend.

Practical Information

• Date: March 2 every year
• Venue: Jinguji temple and Unose (Jinguji, Obama City, Fukui Prefecture)
• Organiser and enquiries: Wakasa Obama Tourist Information Office, tel. 0770-52-3844; Jinguji, tel. 0770-56-1911
• Access: Shuttle bus from JR Obama Station, 1,000 yen; from the Reinan regional office, 500 yen
• Parking: No visitor car park
• Hand torch: 2,500 yen each, advance reservation required, cash only on the day
• Official website: https://wakasa-obama.jp/special/wakasa-omizuokuri/

* Dates, details and prices are subject to change. Please check the official website before you go.

(Sources: Obama City official tourism website, Fukui Prefecture official tourism website)