Hakata Gion Yamakasa (博多祇園山笠) is a festival Japanese celebrated from July 1 to 15 in Hakata, Fukuoka. The festivities center around the Kushida Jinja. The festival is famous for the Kakiyama, which weigh around a ton and are carried around the city as a float racing act.
Hakata Gion Yamakasa
The festival is believed to be over 770 years old and attracts up to a million spectators each year. It was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 1979. The sound of Yamakasa was also selected by the Ministry of the Environment as one of Japan's 100 soundscapes.
The tanks, called Yamakasa, are divided into two groups. Kakiyama are the smaller transportable floats that travel around the city, while Kazariyama are stationary floats, built up to 13 meters high and often depict historical or mythical events in the culture Japanese.
Originally, the Kakiyama and Kazariyama were one, with the large chariots being transported through the city. However, the Yamakasa were divided in 1898 when power lines in Hakata became too common for large Yamakasa to be transported through the streets.
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