Gozan no Okuribi more commonly known as Daimonji (大文字), is a festival

Festival

A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....

 in Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. It is the culmination of the O-Bon festival on August 16, in which five giant bonfire

Bonfire

A bonfire is a controlled outdoor fire used for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Celebratory bonfires are typically designed to burn quickly and may be very large...

s are lit on mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

s surrounding the city. It signifies the moment when the spirit

Spirit

The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...

s of deceased family members, who are said to visit this world during O-Bon, are believed to be returning to the spirit world—thus the name Okuribi (送り火) (roughly, "send-off fire").

The origins of the festival are obscure, but it is believed to be ancient. Specific families have the hereditary duty of organizing all the logistics of the bonfires, and they spend many hours annually providing volunteer labor to maintain this tradition.

Starting at 8 PM, the giant bonfires are lit, each with a distinctive shape. Three of the fires form giant Chinese characters, and two form familiar shapes. The characters, their locations, meanings, and the lighting times are:

• Daimonji (大文字), the character meaning "large" or "great:"
  • on Daimonji-Yama/Higashi-Yama, Nyoigatake at 8:00PM
• Myō/Hō (妙・法), the characters meaning "wondrous dharma
  Dharma (Buddhism)
  Dhamma or Dharma in Buddhism can have the following meanings:* The state of Nature as it is * The Laws of Nature considered collectively....
  
  " (referring to Buddhist teachings):
  • on Matsugasaki, Nishi-Yama/Higashi-Yama at 8:10PM
• Funagata (舟形), the shape of a boat:
  • on Nishigamo, Funa-Yama at 8:15PM
• Hidari Daimonji (左大文字), again, the character meaning "large:"
  • on Daihoku-San, Hidaridaimonji-San at 8:15PM
• Toriigata (鳥居形), the shape of a torii
  Torii
  A is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred...
  
   or shrine gate:
  • on Toriimoto, Mandara-San at 8:20PM

The most famous—and the first to be lit—is the character dai (大), on Kyoto's . The other four fires are lit at five to ten-minute intervals, and by 8:30, all the characters can be seen. Each bonfire lasts for 30 minutes.

The best place to view the festival is from the Nakagyo Ward, in the center of the city. Many hotels have Daimonji specials where, for a fee, you can see all five fires. Many people also like to go to the Kamo River

Kamo River

The is located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The riverbanks are popular walking spots for residents and tourists. In summer, restaurants open balconies looking out to the river. There are pathways running alongside the river on which one can walk along the river, and some stepping stones that cross...

, between Sanjo and Imadegawa Streets, for an excellent view of the initial fires.

Latitude and longitude

• Daimonji:35°1′23"N 135°48′14"E
• Myō:35°3′21"N 135°46′32"E
• Hō:35°3′17"N 135°47′10"E
• Funagata:35°3′59"N 135°44′3"E
• Hidari Daimonji:35°2′35.5"N 135°43′53"E
• Toriigata:35°1′40"N 135°40′5"E