Gozan no Okuribi
Kyoto closes Obon by lighting five mountain characters, a boat and a torii, then dimming the city so the fires can be read.
2026 dates
- Venue
- Five mountains around Kyoto
- Where to plan around
- Watch from the city: Kamo riverbanks, Kyoto Gyoen, Kitayama, Nishioji and Arashiyama. The fires themselves are on Nyoigatake, Matsugasaki, Nishigamo, Kinugasa and Saga Mandarayama.
- Access
- Street viewing is free. Do not climb the fire mountains to watch. Goma-ki prayer sticks are accepted at published collection points through midday on the 16th; hours vary by mountain.
- Official information
- Visit Kyoto City Tourism Association / Gozan Okuribi Rengoukai ↗
The Banquet note
Gozan no Okuribi sends ancestral spirits home at the close of Obon, the mid-August days when families welcome the dead and then see them off. On Sunday 16 August the fires start at 20:00. Daimonji appears first on Nyoigatake in Higashiyama. Myō and Hō follow at 20:05 on the Matsugasaki hills, then Funagata, the boat, at 20:10 in Nishigamo, Hidari Daimonji at 20:15 on Kinugasa near Kinkaku-ji, and Toriigata at 20:20 on Saga Mandarayama. Each fire burns about half an hour. At eight the city drops its building lights, which is the cue to stop talking.
Pick one view and keep it. The Kamo between Marutamachi and Misono bridges is the honest Daimonji bank; Kyoto Gyoen is the calmer lawn version of the same character. Kitayama reads Myōhō. Nishioji toward Kinkaku-ji reads the left Daimonji. Togetsukyo and Hirosawa Pond are for the torii if you are already in Arashiyama. Hotel roofs work if your hotel has one and will let you up. If you want a prayer stick in the Daimonji fire, the goma-ki desk near the Ginkaku-ji trailhead takes them through midday on the 16th. Awa Odori in Tokushima occupies 12 to 15 August; do not try to close that festival and open this one on the same feet.
Plan it well
Be at your bank or park by 19:15. Bring water and a quiet manner. Recheck kyoto.travel on the afternoon of the 16th if the sky looks wrong.