Yamakasa Festival

On Friday 15th July it is the Yamakasa festival. This festival is one of the biggest in Kyushuu and dates back to 1241. It commenorates a time when disease was spreading and a priest called Shioichu Kokushi saved Hakata from a terrible plague by being carried around the city on a movable shrine and throwing water....Since that time an annual festival has developed. All around the city large foats are on display, they feature hakata dolls on one side and often have a more local theme on the other, I have seen baseball players at one and even anime at others.

These floats are too big to carry around the city ( they are about 10m tall), so teams of men carry a smaller one ton float (Smaller?!) around the city and temple while crowds of people, up to around a million, gather to watch and cheer them on. The teams are all competing to win the fastest time and spend a lot of time training. They are all dressed in traditional Japanese clothing and often take their children along with them. There is a lot of shouting as the teams cheer each other on in what is really an endurance test. Three men sit on top of the float to urge the others on, they are all chanting "Oissa! Oissa!" as they race through the streets.

Clothing: Shimekomi (underwear) and mizuhappi(a short coat)

The full festival starts on Friday morning at 4: 59 AM, I am not sure whether I will make it so I have been watching the training. They are really very impressive... and yes there are a lot of bare bottoms!

If you want to learn more about the festival try this link
http://kyushu.com/fukuoka/features/yamagasa_1/