Pre-Yamakasa at Kushida Shrine

In anticipation of Fukuoka's fantastic summer festival

Haruka Saijo Jan 27, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>You can see this decoration float all year round at this shrine</p>

<p>The entrance of Kushida Shrine was full of visitors and police officers waiting for the Yamakasa practice</p>

<p>Two advertisements by a Kyushu broadcasting company flank the entrance gate</p>

<p>A Nagahama ramen booth getting ready for the big event</p>

<p>Why not get your fortune told for only 50 yen?</p>

<p>This well is a famous location that is thought to have some mystical energy flowing about</p>

<p>A stele indicating that the decoration float is the symbol of Yamakasa and an important intangible cultural asset</p>

<p>Catching gold fish with thin paper plates is a very popular festival activity among children</p>

<p>They have a small tea house by one of the entrances to the shrine</p>

<p>Manly samurais are the best when representing the strapping Kyushu lads</p>

<p>Rows of votive lanterns outside the shrine</p>

<p>Children participate as well, and people throw water towards the participants to cool them off and for purification</p>

Right in the midst of the busy streets of Hakata, next to Canal City, lies this shrine famous for Yamakasa, its annual July 15 festival. The shrine is the center of the festival where floats race through the streets and is the only place having one of the floats on permanent display. I visited Kushida Shrine two days before Yamakasa to watch the participants practice. The pre-festival mood, visible each July 1-14, is extremely lively and it seemed as if this was the time of the year when the old shrine shines most brightly with high-spirited people.

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Find out more about Kushida Shrine.

Haruka Saijo @haruka.saijo

A Japanese university student that used to live in Canada, not so Japanese, loves traveling, enjoys experiencing anything new and exciting, and has passion for music.