By TOMOOKI YASUDA/ Staff Writer
May 13, 2022 at 08:30 JST
FUKUOKA--The Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival will make its long-awaited return after three years, scheduled to be held in its usual form from July 1 to 15.
It will feature "kakiyama" floats racing through the city.
"We have to think about (a smaller-scale festival or postponement) if something unexpected happens, but frankly speaking, we want to hold the festival no matter what," said Tadanari Takeda, head of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Promotion Association.
The association announced the news after a general assembly held at Kushidajinja shrine in the city's Hakata Ward on April 20.
Dating back nearly 800 years, the festival usually attracts 3 million visitors, according to the organizer.
The highlight of the festival is seven kakiyama floats, each weighing about 1 ton, carried by men in traditional loincloth who race against one another.
The festival was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Last year, it only featured large ornamental "kazariyama" floats on display around the city.
The association is also set to implement anti-infection measures.
It is currently working on the details of its guidelines, which would include requiring participants to be vaccinated or take tests and controlling the number of visitors.
Members of the association, however, are split over whether to require float carriers to always wear masks. The association plans to ask them to take turns every five minutes.
The festival could be reduced in scale or postponed depending on the COVID-19 situation, the association said.
"It's been very sad not having kakiyama floats for two years," Takeda said.
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Men carry a “kakiyama” float through the streets of Fukuoka’s Hakata Ward during the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival on July 15, 2018. (Masaru Komiyaji)
