Yagi, Kyoto

Yagi has been a long-time participant in the JET Programme, and employs a foreigner and native speaker to teach English in the town's schools.

Thousands of people gather near Yagi's Ōi River Bridge to watch the fireworks show, the largest of its kind in Kyoto Prefecture.

The festival was first held in 1947, and officially begins every year at 6 p.m. with Tōrō nagashi, a Buddhist ceremony in which paper lanterns are floated down the river.

Additionally, Yagi's Bio-Ecology Center turns cow manure from nearby dairy farms into electricity by utilizing the methane gas produced during decomposition.

Seigen-ji temple, in Yagi's northern foothills, is famous because it houses 22 wood carvings created by the wandering ascetic priest Mokujiki-san.