Radiant flames lighting up the night sky

The Kaihi, or Omito, Festival is an important ritual with a history of over 700 years. Nearly one-meter-round, ten-meter-long giant torches made of reeds are lit on fire at the giant torii gate to the east of Tsushima Jinja Shrine and paraded around the east of the premises. Upon passing through a large, two-story gate, the torches are lain in a row before the worship hall, and once the ropes binding the reeds together are untied, the torches are left to completely burn away.
The left overs which do not completely burn away have been used since antiquity as amulets to repel pests from rice fields and even ward off lightning. But when the leftover sticks are used as chopsticks, they are even said to ward off toothaches! Even today, these ashes are fought over by worshippers wanting to take some of them home for themselves.