An Obon fire festival illuminating the Ogata countryside with torchlight
Komatsuke Fire Festival
The 2026 edition of Komatsuke Fire Festival has ended.
Festival information
EVENT INFORMATION- Dates
- 2026/08/14Ended
- Season / frequency
- During in August every year / Every year
- Location
- Across the Ogata Plain and around Harajiri Falls
- Area
- Oita Prefecture・Bungo-ono City(From Tokyo: approx. 1 h 35 min–1 h 55 min · flight time only)Prefecture-level estimate to a main station or airport, not the venue. Airport access, check-in and onward travel are extra; remote areas and islands can take much longer.
- Features
- Highlights and activities
- Wishes behind the festival
- Participation / viewing
- Spectators welcome
- Participation fee
- Free
- Last updated
- 2026/10/19
The Komatsu-taimatsu Fire Festival is a summer event in which torches are lit in the rice paddies of the Ogata Plain and around Harajiri Falls to pray for a bountiful harvest and offer memorial prayers for the local community.
About Komatsuke Fire Festival
The Komatsuke Fire Festival is a fire festival held during the Obon season in Ogata, Bungo-ono City, Oita Prefecture.
Torches are lit in the rice fields around Harajiri Falls and across the Ogata Plain, illuminating the countryside at night.
It is traditionally said to have begun as an insect-chasing ritual praying for a bountiful rice harvest, and is connected with local agriculture and Obon memorial observances.
Source: 小松明火祭り - Wikipedia / 小松明（こだい）火祭り 8月14日 | ［公式］道の駅 原尻の滝
Festival highlights
The highlight is the glow of the small torches rising above the countryside around Harajiri Falls and across the Ogata Plain.
Torches set along rice-field banks are lit all at once at a set time, and flames envelop the broad rural landscape.
Around the venue, local people also create fiery displays using torches, shaping them into features such as gates and stone bridges and competing to make them beautiful.
Source: 小松明火祭り(2025.8.14) - 大分県豊後大野市＜観光・食べる＞総合情報サイト・一般社団法人豊後大野市観光協会
An Obon fire festival illuminating the Ogata countryside with torchlight
What to expect
For the event, each household ties a torch to the end of a bamboo pole and sets it along the banks of rice fields.
Today, a can filled with kerosene and fitted with a wick is used in place of a torch.
The fires are lit all at once at a set time. Around the venue, visitors can enjoy fiery displays shaped like torii gates and stone bridges using torches.
How to take part
Visitors can watch the event.
参加費：無料
Location and access
- Venue and address
The Ogata Plain area and around Harajiri Falls (Ogata Town, Bungo-ono City, Oita Prefecture)
- Train and bus
It is a 5-minute drive from JR Ogata Station.
- By car
About 50 km and 1 hour from the Oita Mera Interchange on the Higashi Kyushu Expressway, via National Routes 10, 57, 326 and 502.
- Parking
There is free parking for 190 vehicles.
Source: 小松明火祭り（大分県／豊後大野）｜開催期間・アクセス｜るるぶ&more.
Address Ogata, Bungo-ono City, Oita Prefecture
Dates and season
2026 event information (the dates listed have passed)
The 2026 event is scheduled for August 14 (Friday).
The event takes place across the Ogata Plain and around Harajiri Falls.
Accommodation and hotels PR
Showing nearby accommodation.
Prices and availability are current at the time of retrieval. For multi-night stays, only the first night’s price is shown. Confirm the final price and directions to the venue with the booking provider. Select your dates again when using the area search link. Search area: within 3 km of Central Oita Prefecture / Bungo-ono City (the search is not centered on the festival venue)
Nearby attractions
Roadside Station Harajiri Falls is near the festival venue.
Harajiri Falls is presented as part of the venue, making it a place where you can combine a visit to the festival with sightseeing in the surrounding area.
Other attractions introduced in Bungo-ono City include Inazumi Underwater Limestone Cave and the Fukoji Magaibutsu Buddha carvings.
Official information
Festival information is posted on the official website of Michi-no-Eki Harajiri Falls.
To check the event date and details, refer to the listing for the “Komatsuke (Kodai) Fire Festival” on that site.
Komatsuke Fire Festival at a Glance
The Komatsuke Fire Festival is a traditional Obon event that illuminates the rice fields of Ogata, Bungo-ono City, and the area around Harajiri Falls with torchlight.
Highlights include lighting the torches along the rice-field banks all at once and fiery displays depicting torii gates, stone bridges, and other forms.
Traditions say it carries meanings including chasing insects to pray for a bountiful rice harvest, memorial observances during Obon, and memorial observances connected with local history.
Japanese Festivals.jp Editorial Team
Celebrating local culture and helping you discover a side of Japan you never knew.
Article updated: 2026/10/19
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