Fire in built environment

Amid a growing number of fires involving historic religious sites across Japan this year, the revered Reikado Hall on Mount Misen on Miyajima Island was destroyed in a blaze on Wednesday morning. According to the fire service, a report came in around 8:30 a.m. stating that the hall was on fire. Firefighters eventually contained the flames after they spread to nearby woodland. No injuries were reported.

Hall on Miyajima Island Known for Its ‘Eternal Flame’
Reikado Hall, part of Daishoin — a main temple of the Omuro School of Shingon Buddhism — was best known for its “Kiezu-no-hi” (“Eternal Flame”), said to have burned continuously for nearly 1,200 years. According to tradition, the flame was lit by the Buddhist monk Kobo Daishi (Kukai) in 806. It later became one of the source flames for the Flame of Peace at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
The hall had suffered repeated damage from fires and natural disasters over the centuries, including in 2005 when the structure was destroyed in another blaze. It was rebuilt the following year to preserve both the historic building and the sacred flame. Investigators at the time believed the earlier fire was caused by burning dead wood and other combustible materials inside the hall. Police are still investigating Wednesday’s fire.

Series of Temple and Shrine fires in 2026
Several other religious sites have also been damaged or destroyed by fire during the first half of 2026. In February, two buildings in Ehime Prefecture — Horenji Temple in Kumakogen and the residence of the head priest at Hotoji Temple in Asahigaoka — were destroyed in separate fires. The wife of Hotoji’s head priest died in the blaze. Later that month, five people were killed in a fire at Shorinji Temple in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
In April, fires were reported at Renshoji Temple in Toyama Prefecture and Urufushine Shrine in Nabari, Mie Prefecture. On May 6, Furumachi Atago Shrine, a 300-year-old Shinto shrine in Niigata Prefecture dedicated to the deity of fire prevention, burned down. Ten days later, the 573-year-old Daihoji Temple in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, founded in 1453, also went up in flames, with its main wooden hall completely destroyed.