Asian Geographic - 01.01.2018

WHEN

November 2–4, 2018

WHERE

Karatsu, Kyushu

HOW

Karatsu is located in Saga Prefecture. Catch

the train from Fukuoka (1 hour 50 minutes)

DOS AND DON’TS

• Do rinse your hands and mouth with the
  water provided before entering a shrine


• Don’t wear any shoes when entering a
  tatami room, even house slippers

EXPERIENCE

KARATSU KUNCHI

Designated an “Important Intangible
Folk Cultural Property of Japan”, this
autumn festival dates back to 1819
and features a race of 14 floats, called
hikiyama, all of which are designated
cultural treasures of over 100 years
old. The sleepy Karatsu-jinja Shrine is
packed with over half a million visitors
for the three days of the festival, one
of Kyushu’s biggest.
The hikiyama are made of
lacquered bamboo or paper and
gilded with gold and silver leaf, and
include red and blue lions, a killer
whale, a samurai helmet, and a sea
bream. They can weigh up to five
tonnes, and the largest is up to 6.8
metres tall. Each float is made and
maintained by one of 14 selected
districts in the city, and float bearers
are chosen exclusively from their
respective districts.

FESTIVAL MUST-SEE: KARATSU KUNCHI

Japan

This autumn festival

dates back to 1819 and

features a race of 14

floats, called hikiyama

On the first night of the festival, the
floats are lit with lanterns and paraded
through the streets. The following day,
they are pulled from the Karatsu-jinja
Shrine to a temporary shine on the
beach, called otabisho. Accompanied
by shouts of encouragement, 300-odd
float bearers gather to pull the massive
floats through the sand, accompanied
by taiko drums and flutes. This ritual
represents the return of the deity in the
shrine to its birthplace on the beach.
Prayers for the town’s prosperity are
made and the community gives thanks
for a good harvest that year. On the
final day, the floats are again paraded
through town, with each float returned
to the district that it originated from.

KANAMARA MATSURI

Also called the “Festival of the Iron Phallus”,

this celebration of fertility and reproduction

sees several large penis-shaped portable

shrines carried around the city of Kawasaki.

There are phallic lollipops, sculptures and

souvenirs up for grabs

DID YOU KNOW

JAPAN

Karatsu

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