Japan
Yamakasa Festival
Part race, part endurance test (for participants and observers), part religious observance--the Yamakasa festival in Fukuoka is one of the most colourful events Bonnie and I have attended in Japan. On the final day of the festival, teams of men representing Hakata's townships (and dressed in big diapers called shimekomi) race each other with elaborate and heavy (about one ton) shrines hoisted on their shoulders, to the cry of "Osshoi, Osshoi." The race happens just before dawn--and in order to get a good seat, you need to show up the night before.
Someone up way past her bedtime
One of the teams running by
One of the shrines up close
