A surprising festival in Japan: Danjiri matsuri

South of Osaka Prefecture, in Kishiwada, surely one of Japan's most exhilarating festivals is taking place. Some Japanese people even travel the country all the way to attend this event.

More than 300 years old, this matsuri reunites all generations with one and only common goal, to quickly advance the Danjiri, large wooden floats yet deities measuring several meters high, through the streets of the city.

Danjiri matsuri is relatively rough festival. During the matsuri event, you will see the danjiri skim the buildings, where even sometimes the floats end up in a thousand pieces on the side. With objects of this weight and size, it is sometimes difficult to turn.

In spite of all this the Kishiwada Danjiri matsuri remains an extremely joyous and festive moment.

This unique event in Japan is also an important moment for the guilds of craftsmen who designed the danjiri. All along these are honored and acclaimed. While people wildly pull the floats, the craftsmen find themselves at the top of their creation and perform acrobatics under the euphoric cries of the crowd.

In the evening, after four hours of hard work, exhausted festival goers stop pulling their danjiri to hang several lanterns. But that does not mean the end, quite the opposite. In order to recover their strength, they leave to sit down to eat and drink together. The evening has just begin.