Kayabuki no Sato is a small hamlet located in Kyoto. It is famous for its traditional thatched roof houses and features a hidden sprinkler system capable of transforming the whole place into a water fountain. Kayabuki no Sato is known as Miyama’s Thatched Village and has a higher percentage of thatched roof farmhouses than any other place in Japan.
This makes Kayabuki no Sato or Miyama’s Thatched Village a popular spot for the tourists. The tourists love walking over the 40 traditional thatched roof homes and staying the night in one of them. However, the whole area is quite vulnerable to fire. Local officials realized this when back in 2000 a fire burned down the archive center. This led to the locals not only asking the people to remain vigilant at all times but also to install a unique sprinkler system for covering the entire hamlet. The sprinkler is tested twice on a yearly basis, generally in December and May. That is when people from all over Japan and beyond gather to witness the amazing sprinklers in action.
The locals didn’t jeopardize the aesthetics of the Japanese hamlet with automated sprinklers. Instead, they had 62 metal sprinklers concealed in small wooden houses that resemble the authentic ones in Kayabuki no Sato. Once the system is activated, the roofs of these houses move apart thus making way for the sprinklers to fire jets of water into the sky.
The testing has become such a spectacular event that it even has its own name; Kayabuki no Sato water hose festival. Sixty two strategically placed sprinklers fire powerful jets of water into the air to cover all of the thatched roof houses. On sunny days, these sprinklers are even able to create rainbows over the village.
If you are ever visiting Japan during the months of May and December, be sure to check out the Kayabuki no Sato water hose festival! We can assure you that you will not regret it!
