Clad in traditional white costumes, parishioners of Kumanonachi Shinto Shrine in Nachikatsuura near Wakayama, Japan, carry 110-pound torches as they climb up and down on the 133 stone steps leading to the shrine Tuesday. Some 6,000 people gathered together to celebrate the annual fire festival, which has its roots in a tradition more than 1,000 years old. Shinto is Japan's principal religion and emphasizes the worship of nature, ancestors, ancient heroes and the divinity of the emperor.
