In Japan most houses are made of woods and it has been since the Edo era (1603 - 1867). Nowadays more and more people live in apartment buildings, however the presence of woods and timber, used for housing and Japanese papers, remains critical to Japanese lifestyle. Forests in Japan covers about 66% of the whole land, which is the largest ratio among developed countries.In the history during the 267 years of Edo era there was 96 fire accident that has destroyed 1636 meters length of area and among them three were recorded as the biggest fire ever occured in Japanese history. The Japanese Emperor at the time recognized the need to improve the mechanism of reducing the number of fire and conducted some study including the introduction of what the Japanese now call Hitaka Hibuse Festival - a celebration to remind people of how fire occurs easily during every change of seasons and that people should be more careful when handling fire.
The Japanese continue to celebrate this Festival even after over 300 years. Nowadays the festival is held throughout the nation, with the big ones held in Iwate and Kyoto. This festival now becomes a major tourist attraction among locals and foreigners. For those travelling in Japan, you can visit Iwate-ken to witness this festival from April 28-29.
http://www.bunka.pref.iwate.jp/
Very interesting blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you Celina :D
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