Visit Nara

Held in early July, Kinpusen-ji Temple’s Kaerutobi Festival (literally "Frog Hopping Festival") is unique to say the least. Legend has it that a man slandered a local deity and as a result, a great eagle hung him from a mountain crag. Finding the man and taking pity on him, a Kinpusen-ji priest turned him into a frog so he could get down off of the crag, and then back into a human again. And so, there are drumming performances and portable shrines, but the main ceremony involves frog-men “hopping” to the temple to receive the healing kiss of priestly incantations. It likely originated as a symbolic enactment of Buddhism’s power to sublimate desire and engender compassion.