On the day of the Setsubun Festival, which fell on February 2nd this year, the annual event of Setsubun Mantōrō 節分万燈籠 which means "Thousand Lanterns," was held at the Kasuga Taisha Shrine 春日大社 , a World Heritage Site.

The sacred Shinto shrine, established in the 8th century, is situated in the city of Nara, famous for free-roaming deer.

This year, to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the ceremony was held privately to avoid crowds and the number of lanterns was reduced from the usual 3,000 to about 1,000.

After shrine maidens finished placing new candles in the lanterns, and other preparations were complete...

...the thousand hanging lanterns in the corridor were lit, imparting their surfaces highlighted by intricate openwork carvings with a faint golden glow and enveloping the shrine in a mysterious atmosphere.

At the Shinto ritual held in front of the main shrine, the priests prayed for the end of the novel coronavirus pandemic and the fulfillment of worshippers' wishes.