• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

  • Photowalks
  • Book and Prints
  • Newsletter
  • Portfolio
  • About/Contact
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • RSS

Mar 16 2005 3 Comments

Fiery footsteps

Some Buddhist sects here conduct walking-over-fire rituals, with worshippers gingerly crossing smoldering hot ground created by the burning of religious amulets. And recently in western Tokyo, some itinerant priests supervised such an event (if that’s the right word).

The woman in the picture however looks like she just happened to be on her way back from the supermarket, but a slightly wrong turn meant that before she knew it her shoes had been removed and she was being guided (complete with shopping) across the glowing ground.

walking on fire

Categorized: Culture, Religion

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. melina says

    3/17/2005 at 3:37 am

    your dialogue to this picture had me laughing, sadly laughing, for a full two minutes. one move to the right, and it’d look like he was putting her head somewhere intimate…

    Reply
  2. Dustin Jensen says

    3/17/2005 at 10:59 am

    When I was in Japan I stumbled across this same thing. I decided to walk across even though I was the only gaijin. I thought it would be at least a little hot but it was not at all.

    Reply
  3. Toni says

    3/19/2005 at 7:43 pm

    Heh. She looks like my grandma (bless her soul).

    Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Copyright © 2025 · Tokyo Times