Overview
Fifty-kilo lantern poles balanced on foreheads and hips, standing in for ears of rice.
About this place
The Akita Kantō (秋田竿燈まつり) is a Japanese festival celebrated from 3–7 August in Akita City, Akita Prefecture in hope for a good harvest. Around two hundred bamboo poles five to twelve metres long, bearing twenty-four or forty-six lanterns, topped with gohei, and weighing up to fifty kilograms, are carried through the streets by night on the palms, foreheads, shoulders, or lower backs of the celebrants. The festival is first referred to in a travel diary of 1789 The Road Where the Snow Falls (雪の降る道). It is one of the main festivals in Tōhoku, along with the Tanabata festival in Sendai, the Aomori Nebuta Matsuri festival, and the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival in Yamagata. The Akita Kantō festival was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1980.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source ja.wikipedia.org ↗Key facts
Founded / opened：1789 (recorded) Highlights / collection：Kanto with 46 lanterns, Skill of the pole bearers Genre：Crafts and ceramics
Source ja.wikipedia.org ↗Official website
Check the official website for current opening hours, fees and closing days.
Source kantou.gr.jp ↗Before you go
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