July 17, 2011
Summer fests in W. Japan geared to cheer up quake-hit E. Japan people
Summer festivals take place across Japan from June to August, but those in western Japan have a different taste this year; to cheer up people in eastern Japan areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami waves.
Post-quake reconstruction is making slow progress, because the influence of the disaster has been aggravated by the unprecedented nuclear plant accident triggered by the tsunami waves. Despite a lapse of four months since then, more than 100,000 people remain without houses to live in. This has led festival organizers to think about what they have to do for affected people. Some of them have decided to extend moral or financial support to the affected regions by, among other things, inviting people from there to their festivals. One of such examples is the Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival, in which heavy floats borne by men on their shoulders race through the streets in the Hakata area of Fukuoka City, Kyushu, southwestern Japan.
The festival, which is held from July 1 to 15, is actually a Shinto ritual dedicated to the Kushida Shrine, the main guardian shrine for the Hakata area, downtown Fukuoka. Seven “Yamakasa” floats are created by local people divided into seven different “Nagare” neighborhood groups. The festival culminates in a fever pitch early in the morning on the final day. With every street and every corner around the shrine occupied by tens of thousands of onlookers as well as TV crew, photographers and police officers and guards, the first of the seven floats, the Nishi (West) Nagare float this year, set off at the signal of beating drums just before dawn and dashed out at full speed into the streets of Hakata. The other floats followed at 5-minute intervals.
Despite the vigorous atmosphere, participants have to keep a gracious attitude and are urged not to have a sense of privilege. The managers of the Nagare groups equally said they would strive to be even more vigorous this year so that “our energies may reach the affected people and help them get back on their feet as soon as possible.”
The festival, designated as an important national intangible folk heritage in 1979, is said to have originated from a ritual which took place in the 13th century to stop epidemic spread in Hakata, which used to be merchants' self-governing city. The heroic and colorful festival attracts about one million people from various areas during the 15-day period.
Each float, which has a weight of about one ton and a height of 5 to 6 meters, is carried by more than 20 men clad in happi coats, who are directed by up to six riders from atop the float. The seven Nagare groups compete to cover the 5.1-kilometer course from the shrine to the goal, in the shortest possible time, about half an hour. The race is also joined by a far loftier float, about 16 meters high, but this float covers a different shorter course before returning to their district.
Spectators gave a shout of joy every time the floats came out of the shrine. Their cheer became even louder against the tallest float, which weighs approximately 2 tons. The eight floats, including the tallest one, are decorated with legendary samurai or popular character dolls fabricated by master Kakata Doll craftsmen.
The records of time with which the seven floats covered the distance to the goal varied, from less than 30 minutes to far over 30 minutes, but float bearers, riders and other participants in all groups looked fully satisfied with their performances, after accomplishing this year’s added aim of extending their energies to the quake-affected people in eastern Japan.
