© Masahiro IIZUKA
Huge bonfires are lit at 8 pm every August 16, on five mountains in Kyoto. They have the form of characters—"dai" ("large"), "myo," and "ho" forming "myo-ho" ("wondrous teaching of Buddha"), Funugata (boat shape), and Toriigata (torii shape). These huge characters are to guide the ancestors back to the other world. The rite is a demonstration of respect for ancestors and is best visible from the west bank of the Kamo River.