If you are in Nara during the summer season August 5-14th, TOKA-E is a event you don't want to miss.
TOKA-E （燈花会）：http://www.toukae.jp/en/
TOKA-E candle night in Nara park covers a large area of Nara park, as well as many historical sites. About 20,000 candles are placed and lit hand by hand every night by the local volunteers wearing red T-shirts. This year is the 20th celebration of TOKA-E!
This event has been supported by pure hospitalities of the volunteers from the teenagers to the seniors in their 60s who enjoy being the part of this.
I once joined as a volunteer, too, and it was a lot fun!
It was nice to see people's delighted faces to see totally different views of Nara park from hot daytime, so they could bring back special memories in beautiful atmosphere.
This year, we are having unusually hot and muggy summer. Daytimes can get as hot as 37 ℃ or more. So, walking around the park after sunset is a good idea for anyone. This is a good opportunities for Japanese girls to wear yakuta, summer cotton kimono, too.
Promotion video on Youtube:
2 accidents can occur for the volunteers waiting to light the candles....
1: A thunder storm !!! To cool the heat, it is a natural phenomenon..
2: Another natural phenomenon caused by the famous feature of Nara, deer!!
I found a cute and problematic reality caused by the deer on youtube... Imagine they found the white cups with some water (later the volunteers are supposed to light the small candles floating in the water, but during the waiting time) ......!!!
