Fukuoka · Fukuoka
Hakata Gion Yamakasa
博多祇園山笠
Kushida Shrine's rite, ending at dawn on the 15th as one-tonne floats are run through the city.
Next
1–15 July 2027
251 days away
Every year, 1 July, for 15 days
Future dates: 1 July 2027 · 1 July 2028 · 1 July 2029
Origin
Tradition traces it to the Kamakura period, when a priest was carried through the town scattering water to purify it during an epidemic. Like Kyoto's Gion Matsuri it is a plague-dispelling rite, and the running form descends from that purifying circuit.
What to look for
The oiyama at 4:59 a.m. on 15 July: the floats are carried into Kushida Shrine, purify the precinct, and then run five kilometres through the city. The first two weeks are the season of kazari-yamakasa, the ornate static floats standing around town.
How to watch
By custom the carrying is still men only, and women do not take part — though anyone may watch. Stay out of the running route. The water thrown from the roadside, kioi-mizu, is thrown by people with that role.
Where
Kushida Shrine
Fukuoka, Fukuoka
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