'Hakata Gion Yamakasa'

The Hakata Gion Yamakasa (博多祇園山笠) is one of the most interesting festivals in Japan. It is held every year during the first half of July and climaxes with a spectacular time trial race in the early morning hours of July 15. In the race, seven neighborhoods of Fukuoka's Hakata district compete in pushing beautifully decorated festival floats along a five kilometer long course through the city. For the race, smaller sized kakiyama floats, about five meters tall and one ton heavy. The floats do not have wheels and are dragged through the streets, while water is spread in front of the float in order to reduce friction between the float and the road surface (and cool down the participants). From July 10 to 14, the seven teams hold several practice runs and parades in preparation for the main race. On July 15 just after 1am, all teams line up behind the start line, which is located in front of Kushida Shrine, the festival's host shrine.