Watch performers balance spectacular lantern poles on their chins in an unforgettable summer festival.

With a quasi-holiday celebrating all of the people surnamed Sato, and a festival for verbal abuse, it can sometimes feel like Japan has an event for almost everything. With summer well underway, many towns and cities are gearing up for summer festivals full of fireworks, shaved ice, and a whole lot of bug spray. However, if you head up to Akita City in early August, you’ll discover something a little bit different: a festival based entirely around lots of candle-lit lanterns on very large poles.

One of the Tohoku region’s three great festivals, along with Sendai’s Tanabata Festival and Aomori’s Nebuta Festival, the Kanto Festival of Akita traces its roots back around 270 years to a midsummer ritual designed to drive away illness and evil spirits. Today, it’s an event that draws crowds of people to witness participants hoisting up to 12-meter-long (39-foot) bamboo poles called kanto (literally “pole lights”), adorned with up to 46 lanterns and weighing up to 50 kilograms (110 pounds).

▼ And boy do they bend!

These lengthy poles are used by performers to showcase impressive skills as they balance these swaying giants on their palms, foreheads, shoulders, and even hips, all to the tune of taiko drums, and chants of “Dokkoisho! Dokkoisho!” from the spectating crowd.

▼ Check out these professional balancing skills

There’s more to these lanterns than meets the eye, though. The candles used are given out at the end of the night as charms for safe childbirth, and the shorter the candle the shorter the labor time is believed to be, so anyone with a little one on the way might want to go and get a hold of the shortest one you can get your hands on.

With all of that fire waving about up in the air, some people might wonder about the possibility of a bundle of flame randomly dropping on their heads as the poles sway to and fro. However, thanks to some clever engineering using holes at the base of the lantern, if they happen to swing a bit too wildly, the wind will extinguish the candle, preventing any unfortunate heads-being-set-alight incidents.

▼ Beautiful and not-so-deadly is a great combination.

The festival is split into two parts: the main evening performances, and the skill competition during the day. Starting from August 3 and lasting until August 6, the evening section is held between 6:50 p.m. and 8:50 p.m. on Kanto Odori, about a 20-minute walk from Akita Station. After the performance finishes, there is an interactive kanto experience, where visitors can touch the kanto and take photos with them.

The preliminaries for the daytime skill competition will be held on August 4 and 5 between 9:00 a.m. and 3:40 p.m., and the finals on August 6 from 9:20 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Nigiwai Park next to the Akita Museum of Art. If it happens to rain, the competition will instead move indoors to the CNA Arena Akita. From noon there will be an opportunity for visitors to experience lifting the kanto themselves, alongside the music, and if you happen to be one of the first 100 people, you will even get a free traditional mameshibori cloth, which could be used to wrap lunch boxes or as a tea towel or head scarf.

While you’ll no doubt be able to see the towering behemoths as you walk past, to have the best view, you’ll want to consider getting a seat. The seats are split into four tiers, with both adults and children paying the same price: a tatami box seat for six people (28,000 yen [US$190.63]), S Seat (4,500 yen), A Seat (4,000 yen), and B Seat (3,500 yen). However, do take note that only A and B Seats remain, and are being swept up fast. Reservations can be made by phone or online through one of the ticket purchasing sites in the link at the end of the article, and there are special places for wheelchair users, but you will have to phone them to reserve a space, as it can’t be done online.

Fireworks are a mainstay of Japanese summers, but how about changing things up a little and watching the skies light up with poles covered in lanterns this August? Of course, while also taking the opportunity to give it a go yourself.

Event information
Evening performances
August 3–6 (6:50 p.m.–8:50 p.m.)
Location: Kanto Odori / 竿燈大通り

Skill Competition / 妙技大会
Preliminaries: August 4–5 (9:00 a.m.–3:40 p.m.)
Finals: August 6 (9:20 a.m.–3:00 p.m.)
Venue: Nigiwai Hiroba / にぎわい広場; (if raining) CNA Arena Akita (Akita-shiritsu Taiikukan) CNAアリーナ★あきた（秋田市立体育館）

Inquiries and reservations:
Telephone: 018-866-9977 (Weekdays 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.)
Seat Reservation Website

Related: Kanto Festival official website
Source: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times (1, 2)
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