A long procession of people dressed as yamabushi mountain priests makes its way into an amphitheater in the hills of eastern Kyoto to the sound of majestic symphonic music. This is how the Agon Shu Buddhist Association’s annual Fire Rites Festival always begins. But this year there were some very visible differences from previous years. The yamabushi kept a careful distance from each other, for example. And looking closely, you could see that each one was wearing a small transparent plastic face shield.
These were just some of the precautions taken against the coronavirus during the association’s 48th annual Fire Rites Festival — the biggest event of its kind. Each year the Agon Shu faithful gather to pray for health and world peace. But during the pandemic there was a special emphasis on praying for an end to the pandemic, as well as asking for divine intercession to achieve peace and ensure disaster preparedness.