Yoshida Fire Festival! (One of Japan’s 3 Most Unique Festivals)
Special Dinner and Accommodation Package with “shio-kaji” (ceremonial burning)
To mark the 10th anniversary of Mount Fuji becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Fujiyoshida City has decided to sell for the first time (from Wednesday August 9) a special dinner and accommodation package with salt blessing -- which can be experienced at the Yoshida Fire Festival. The Yoshida Fire Festival, with a history spanning 400 years, is one of Japan’s 3 most unique festivals and attracts 200,000 visitors every year.
Through this project, we would like to provide a new sightseeing experience for visitors to know the history, culture, and charm of Mt. Fuji.
This year, the highly rated chef Kohei Horiuchi (winner of the 2021 RED U-35 grand prix) will prepare a special dinner. There will also be a chance to relax at the UNESCO “Togawa Oshi House,” and stay at a special accommodation site in the city. The above package centers around the idea of enjoying a historical experience at the Yoshida Fire Festival – a festival that is a great source of pride for Fujiyoshida City. The package is also a superb chance to experience Fujiyoshida’s numerous tourist attractions first hand. Please take part in this!
Event Details
Date: Saturday August 26, 2023
Venue: Yoshida Fire Festival Venue: Kamiyoshida 4-9-11, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi 403-0005
(Please scroll down for details on the dinner and accommodation venues.)
Launch date: Wednesday August 9 (sold on a sequential basis thereafter)
Price: Price varies depending on type of package
Planning and production: Fujiyoshida Tourism Promotion Service
Event partners: AMUSE INC., Chuokanko Co., Ltd., Arakura Kanko Bus Co., Ltd., Highland Resort Co., Ltd., PICA Co., Ltd.
Package outline
1. Watch the Yoshida Fire Festival and experience “shio-kaji” (ceremonial burning) under the guidance of a curator from Fujiyoshida City.
2. Relax on a specially prepared seat at the UNESCO “Togawa Oshi House.”
3. Enjoy an exquisite dinner prepared by Kohei Horiuchi, winner of the 2021 RED U-35 grand prix.
4. Stay at a hotel or similar venue (including breakfast), and experience the charm of Yamanashi.
5. Receive a special souvenir amulet and Japanese towel (neither of which can be purchased).
Schedule
Saturday August 26
16:00 Gather at KONOHANA Café, inside the restored traditional house of the Osano Family.
16:10 Greetings, description of the “Yoshida Fire Festival”
16:30 Special Dinner
18:00 Move toward the fire festival viewing point
(way of getting there depends on your plan)
18:30 Watch the Yoshida Fire Festival ignition
19:00 Ceremonial Burning and Salt Blessing
19:20 Free time
(The check-in and check-out times vary depending on accommodation. Please access the relevant accommodation homepages for further details.)
Plan 1. Watch the Yoshida Fire Festival (an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property)
Plan 2. Relax on a special seat at the UNESCO “Togawa Oshi House”
This year, we will provide special rest seats at the “Togawa Oshi House” to package participants. The oldest part of the Togawa Oshi House was built in 1768 (Meiwa 5), and it is part of Mount Fuji’s UNESCO registration. Please enjoy the experience at this historical house!
Plan 3. Enjoy an exquisite dinner prepared by Kohei Horiuchi, winner of the 2021 RED U-35 grand prix.
Menu
The menu will consist of about six dishes, as well as a drink for toasting (either a sparkling or non-alcoholic sparkling drink).
There will also be a variety of alcohol-based and non-alcoholic beverages originating from Yamanashi Prefecture.
・Koshu chicken and paprika galette
・Corn and ricotta tomato gelee
・Confit of magnolia-smoked trout with grilled eggplant
・Carp with beet and Mount Fuji Japanese peppers
・Koshu wine beef in Koshu red wine sauce
・Peaches with rose geranium and kuromoji herb oil」
・Herb brioche
*The menu is subject to change. Please note that the dishes in these photos might differ slightly to those on the day.
Comment from Chef Horiuchi
This menu has a wide variety of dishes, making abundant use of ingredients from the north foot of Mount Fuji and across Yamanashi Prefecture. The Yoshida Fire Festival: one of Japan’s 3 Most Unique Festivals. I came up with this menu fully focused on the day of this festival, which I have been fond of since childhood. The red ingredients such as paprika, beet, beef, and red wine are designed to evoke the red flames of the burning torches, while the carp represents the “omotenashi” hospitality of the Togawa Oshi House. Moreover, please enjoy the desserts that evoke the cool breeze that flows over the north foot of Mount Fuji after the festival ends.
Kohei Horiuchi
Born in 1986 in Fujiyoshida City, Yamanashi Prefecture. After graduating from Ecole Tsuji Tokyo, Horiuchi-san worked at restaurants and hotels in Tokyo before moving to France. He developed his skills at the two-star auberge “La Grenouillere,” in a remote part of northern France. In 2018, Chef Horiuchi returned to Japan and started working as a chef at an innovative restaurant in Tokyo. In 2021, he won the 2021 RED U-35 grand prix – which is the largest culinary competition in Japan for young chefs. Since April 2022, Horiuchi-san has been working as a freelance chef. He is very active, involving himself in wineries, collaborations with other chefs, pop-up restaurants, food events, media performances, and also working as a visiting chef. In May 2024, Chef Horiuchi plans to open an auberge at the north foot of Mount Fuji together with his older brother, who is a sommelier.
This year, Horiuchi-san will prepare a special dinner at KONOHANA café, inside the restored traditional house of the Osano Family.
Venue: KONOHANA Café
Address: Kamiyoshida Higashi 7-27-2, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi 403-0013
Plan 4. Stay at a hotel or similar venue and experience the charm of Yamanashi.
(Please note that each hotel has a certain amount of rooms, and your first choice might not be available.)
Hotel 1) Fujisan Onsen Hotel Kaneyamaen
Capacity: Three groups of 6 people
Rooms: Bessho Sasa and Mizuho
A setting that creates a private moment with wonderful views of green forests. A chance to be completely uninterrupted and feel fully relaxed.
Breakfast: Available in your room’s dining area.
Address: Kamiyoshida Higashi 9-1-18, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi 403-0032
Telephone number: 0555-22-3168 (09:00 – 18:00)
Homepage: http://www.kaneyamaen.com/
Ticket sale start date: Thursday August 10
Tickets can be bought via: https://bessho-sasa.com/plan/2023/08/post-1.html
Hotel 2) Fujikyu Highland Official Hotel
Highland Resort Hotel & Spa
Capacity: Two groups of 4 people
Rooms: Mount Fuji View/Superior Twin. Two semi-double beds with Simmons duvets in a room that caters to various needs. The room is wide, and enables you to view the various faces of Mount Fuji across the four seasons. (This room is no smoking.)
Breakfast: Fujiyama Terrace Restaurant
Enjoy a buffet breakfast of more than 30 different kinds of Japanese and Western dishes, including freshly baked bread, at the Fujiyama Terrace Restaurant, which offers a spectacular view of Mt. Fuji.
Address: Shin-Nishihara 5-6-1, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi 403-0017
Telephone number: 0555-22-1000
Homepage: https://www.highlandresort.co.jp/
Ticket sale start date: Wednesday August 9, 15:00 onward
Tickets can be bought via: https://directin.jp/?y=A7CAD82
Site 3) FUJI GATEWAY
Price: ¥50,000 per person (including tax)
Capacity: Five groups of 10 people
Details: FUJI GATEWAY Experience the Yoshida Fire Festival with a special dinner, Fujimichi cruise and an original “arrive empty-handed” accommodation plan
1. You will be given an “arrive empty-handed” set (tent, tarp, campfire stand, lantern, sleeping bag, and mat)
2. You can stay on high-quality natural lawn camping field that is also used in the professional soccer J. League.
3. A local firewood craftsman will prepare firewood for the campfire. Please enjoy the campfire to your heart’s content.
4. Enjoy activities that will enable you to learn about the history of the Yoshida Fire Festival and Mount Fuji.
Address: 6663-1 Kenmarubi, Funatsu, Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Minamitsuru-gun, Yamanashi-ken 401-0301
Telephone number: 0555-22-1000
Homepage: https://fuji-gateway.com/
Ticket sale start date: Wednesday August 9
Tickets can be bought via: https://www.nap-camp.com/yamanashi/14933/plans/20029728
Activities: FUJI GATEWAY Fujimichi cruise
This is a special tour program, provided by the FUJI GATEWAY CRUISE CLUB, that will allow you to experience culture relating to Mount Fuji – the starting point of the Yoshida Fire Festival. Discover unique stories stemming from the surrounding nature and sacred Mount Fuji, together with special guides as you walk along Fujimichi, and also through forests and caves.
1) Saturday August 26 13:00-16:00
“Fujimichi cruise on an e-Fatbike”
Jump on an e-Fatbike, and ride swiftly through stunning nature. Go around Fujimichi after dashing through forests that were born in the wake of a Mount Fuji eruption 1,000 years ago.
Experience this original activity program as you visit the Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine (the gateway to Mount Fuji), the Yoshida trail, and Umagaeshi – before finishing at KONOHANA for the special dinner.
2) Sunday August 27 08:30-10:00
“Re-Birth Hike Cruise along Fujimichi”
Hike slightly from FUJI GATEWAY up Mount Fuji and view the Yoshida lava tree molds, which are regarded as one of the “Mecca” spots of the mountain. Embark on an expedition of the lava tree molds, which originate from erupting lava from Mount Fuji – and experience a sense of “rebirth” inside the lava tree molds, on this exciting trekking cruise.
Plan 5. Yoshida Fire Festival-themed souvenirs
Wooden amulets
It is said that by slamming the Fuji-san shaped portable shrine into the ground (one of the highlights of the Yoshida Fire Festival), it’s possible to calm a volcanic eruption. However, such rough activity wears down parts of the portable shrine, and these parts are replaced every year. The old parts are then used as wooden amulets to wish that the festival goes smoothly without anyone getting injured. The amulets are also given to the portable-shrine bearers. This year, we will be giving out these wooden amulets as special souvenirs. The amulets have been produced by so called “caretakers,” who are shrine servants.
“Chinka-sai” Japanese towels
These are often given out to the portable-shrine bearers to wipe away sweat. It is traditional for portable-shrine bearers to wear these towels around their head or neck, and for just the caretakers to wear them around their foreheads tied in a knot.
Inquiries
Sakaki
Fujisan Section
Fujiyoshida City Hall
Email: fujisan@city.fujiyoshida.lg.jp
Media coverage:
Kurita
Email: yuichi_kurita@nwtnk.co.jp