Ogres, specters, demons, ghosts and hell. The ancient capital's many myths of the spirit world seem fantastic today. Kyoto's citizens lived in fear and awe of the other world and appealed to the deities for help. They honored milestones and kept the annual events in thanks to the deities for their protection. Consequences of the city's prosperity, the legends have origins in the deep in the recesses of the human mind, and the epidemics and wars that occurred throughout Kyoto's history.

The Japanese believe their ancestors' spirits return from the other world to visit during Obon in mid-August. The Gozan-no-okuribi ceremony to send them off is held in Kyoto at the end of Obon on August 16. Bonfires are lit on five Kyoto mountains as guides for the spirits to find their way back safely. Watch the locals' prepare for this fiery traditional event in the Matsugasaki area of Kyoto, where two of the bonfires are lit, and discover the ancient customs of the living and the dead.

Fushimi Inari Taisha is famous worldwide for the vermillion shrine gates that line the paths in the mountain behind it, where its origins lie. Worshippers seeking happiness have visited this sacred ground where the deities rest for centuries. One family prays religiously every month for business prosperity. Another has the divided spirit of the deity protecting their home and business. Kyotoites live for the future, every day in thanks, through the shrine that embodies their unwavering faith.