/ 2025 / Press / Travel/Tourism

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  Atsushi Ikeda, Japan

In Japan, after the New Year, it is traditional to burn festive decorations—such as kadomatsu, shimenawa, and old talismans—to pray for good health and family safety.
This ritual, known in Kansai as Tondo-yaki, sees even firefighters—whose duty is normally to extinguish—quietly watching over the flames on this day.