There was one of four big events in Kyoto tonight. It is called gozan no okuribi (五山送り火), literally five mountains sending off fire. This has some hundreds years of history.
During obon the spirits of ancestors came back home, and on the last day of obon we send them off with fire.
In Kyoto five giant bonfires are lit on mountains surrounding the city from 8 pm. Three of them form giant Chinese characters, and two of them are shapes as follows:
Daimonji(大文字), the Chinese character dai (大) meaning "large" or "great" on Daimonji-yamaat 8:00 pm. The longest size is 160 m. There are 75 fire spots.
Myo/Ho(妙・法), meaning "excellent law" on Nishi-yama/Higashi-yamaat 8:10 pm.
Funagata(船形), the shape of boat on Funa-yamaat 8:15 pm.
Hidari Daimonji(左大文字), meaning left "large" character on Daimonji-yama at 8:15 pm.
Toriigata (鳥居形), the shape of torii (鳥居), shrine gate at Toriimoto at 8:20 pm.
The most famous one is the character dai (大), therefore this event is also known as daimonji yaki(大文字焼き), literally character dai burning. Each bonfire lasts for 30 minutes.
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